OBJECTIVES: QoL questionnaires often contain items that enquire how bothered a patient is by their condition. Corpus-based studies concluded that three meanings could be defined for “bother”; relating to “pain”, “annoyance” or “hassle” [Glynn, 2010]. This evidently poses a challenge for translators in faithfully conveying the meaning for accurate data collection. This study investigates the extent to which this is an issue in linguistic validation projects. METHODS: A selection of experienced translators was contacted covering 20 languages. The linguists were asked whether “bother” posed problems in their translations of PRO instruments. They were then asked whether it was possible to find a “direct equivalent” in their language which could be used to convey the intended meaning without affecting patient understanding. Their answers were collated into two categories; one where a direct equivalent could be easily identified, and a second where a direct equivalent could not be found, and translation would require further clarification in order to truly reflect the source. RESULTS: