This article focuses on technical translation and the demands imposed on subject-field expert translators who must decide how they can reconcile the linguistic constraints imposed by a particular language with the communicative expectations found in a particular domain. The authors' main hypothesis is that experts typically resort to syntactic calquing to render phraseological units such as lexical collocations. By so doing, they reinforce their role as language planners, not only by introducing terminology into the TL but also by imposing SL norms within the expert community. Hence, the role of translation during the process of term documentation should be enhanced.