A method is suggested whereby translators can state their beliefs about the meaning of the source text and their intentions about the wording of the translation. The method involves inserting items from a vocabulary into the translation as it is produced. The vocabulary consists of descriptors for various ways of producing language. Several examples are discussed: ventriloquising, quoting, fudging, guessing, explicitating, fictionising, fabricating and glossing. These words express states of mind of the translator which are not accessible to external observers. Some uses of the method are suggested.