Index: sites/default/settings.php
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvs/drupal/drupal/sites/default/settings.php,v
retrieving revision 1.54
diff -u -r1.54 settings.php
--- sites/default/settings.php	28 Mar 2007 14:08:22 -0000	1.54
+++ sites/default/settings.php	9 Apr 2007 19:36:54 -0000
@@ -176,3 +176,16 @@
 #   'anonymous' => 'Visitor',
 # );
 
+/**
+ * String overrides:
+ *
+ * To override specific strings on your site, add an entry to this list.
+ * This functionality allows you to change a small number of your site's
+ * default English language interface strings.
+ *
+ * Remove the leading hash signs to enable.
+ */
+# $conf['custom_strings'] = array(
+#   'forum'      => 'Discussion board',
+#   '@count min' => '@count minutes',
+# );
Index: includes/common.inc
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvs/drupal/drupal/includes/common.inc,v
retrieving revision 1.627
diff -u -r1.627 common.inc
--- includes/common.inc	6 Apr 2007 13:27:20 -0000	1.627
+++ includes/common.inc	9 Apr 2007 19:36:54 -0000
@@ -697,7 +697,20 @@
  */
 function t($string, $args = 0) {
   global $language;
-  if (function_exists('locale') && $language->language != 'en') {
+  static $custom_strings;
+
+  // First, check for an array of customized strings. If present, use the array
+  // *instead of* database lookups. This is a high performance way to provide a
+  // handful of string replacements. See settings.php for examples.
+  // Cache the $custom_strings variable to improve performance.
+  if (!isset($custom_strings)) {
+  	$custom_strings = variable_get('custom_strings', array());
+  }
+  // Custom strings are only available for English.
+  if ($language->language == 'en' && isset($custom_strings[$string])) {
+  	$string = $custom_strings[$string];
+  }
+  elseif (function_exists('locale') && $language->language != 'en') {
     $string = locale($string);
   }
   if (!$args) {