diff --git a/R/custom-translators.R b/R/custom-translators.R
index c6dd65c..5f1125b 100644
--- a/R/custom-translators.R
+++ b/R/custom-translators.R
@@ -1,18 +1,22 @@
+catf = function(fmt, ..., sep=" ", domain="R-potools") {
+  cat(gettextf(fmt, ..., domain=domain), sep=sep)
+}
+
 # tends to make some really repetitive messages with call.=TRUE, so always turn it off
-stopf = function(fmt, ..., domain = NULL) {
-  stop(gettextf(fmt, ..., domain = NULL), domain = NA, call. = FALSE)
+stopf = function(fmt, ..., domain="R-potools") {
+  stop(gettextf(fmt, ..., domain=domain), domain = NA, call. = FALSE)
 }
 
 # uncovered for now, used in msgmerge.R
-warningf = function(fmt, ..., immediate. = FALSE, noBreaks. = FALSE) {
-  warning(gettextf(fmt, ..., domain = NULL), domain = NA, call. = FALSE, immediate. = immediate., noBreaks. = noBreaks.)
+warningf = function(fmt, ..., immediate.=FALSE, noBreaks.=FALSE, domain="R-potools") {
+  warning(gettextf(fmt, ..., domain=domain), domain = NA, call. = FALSE, immediate. = immediate., noBreaks. = noBreaks.)
 }
 
-messagef = function(fmt, ..., appendLF = TRUE) {
-  message(gettextf(fmt, ..., domain = NULL), domain = NA, appendLF = appendLF)
+messagef = function(fmt, ..., appendLF=TRUE, domain="R-potools") {
+  message(gettextf(fmt, ..., domain=domain), domain = NA, appendLF = appendLF)
 }
 
 # not actually used yet in package src, so commenting out for test coverage, but leaving in for illustration
 # packageStartupMessagef = function(fmt, ..., appendLF = TRUE) {
-#   packageStartupMessage(gettextf(fmt, ..., domain = NULL), domain = NA, appendLF = appendLF)
+#   packageStartupMessage(gettextf(fmt, ..., domain = domain), domain = NA, appendLF = appendLF)
 # }
diff --git a/R/explain_plurals.R b/R/explain_plurals.R
index 92572ba..b4ac252 100644
--- a/R/explain_plurals.R
+++ b/R/explain_plurals.R
@@ -24,10 +24,11 @@ po_explain_plurals <- function(language, index) {
 
   plural_metadata = .potools$PLURAL_RANGE_STRINGS[language_metadata, .SD, on = "plural"]
   if (missing(index)) {
-    language_metadata[, message(domain = NA, sprintf(
+    language_metadata[, messagef(
       ngettext(nplurals, "%s (%s) has %d plural form.", "%s (%s) has %d plural forms."),
-      full_name_eng, full_name_native, nplurals
-    ))]
+      full_name_eng, full_name_native, nplurals,
+      domain = NA
+    )]
     plural_metadata[, message(domain = NA, paste(
       gettextf("  - plural_index = %d applies %s", plural_index, range_translation = gettext(range)),
       collapse = "\n"
diff --git a/R/find_fuzzy_messages.R b/R/find_fuzzy_messages.R
index b8feb16..f6b5a75 100644
--- a/R/find_fuzzy_messages.R
+++ b/R/find_fuzzy_messages.R
@@ -2,20 +2,26 @@ find_fuzzy_messages <- function(message_data, lang_file) {
   old_message_data = get_po_messages(lang_file)
 
   if (any(idx <- old_message_data$fuzzy == 2L)) {
-    messagef('Found %d translations marked as deprecated in %s.', sum(idx), lang_file)
-    message('Typically, this means the corresponding error messages have been refactored.')
-    message('Reproducing these messages here for your reference since they might still provide some utility.')
+    messagef(
+      paste(
+        'Found %d translations marked as deprecated in %s.',
+        'Typically, this means the corresponding error messages have been refactored.',
+        'Reproducing these messages here for your reference since they might still provide some utility.',
+        sep = '\n'
+      ),
+      sum(idx), lang_file
+    )
 
     dashes = strrep('-', 0.9*getOption('width'))
     old_message_data[idx & type == 'singular', {
       if (.N > 0L) {
-        message(' ** SINGULAR MESSAGES **')
+        cat(' ** SINGULAR MESSAGES **\n')
         cat(rbind(dashes, msgid, msgstr), sep='\n')
       }
     }]
     old_message_data[idx & type == 'plural', {
       if (.N > 0L) {
-        message(' ** PLURAL MESSAGES **')
+        cat(' ** PLURAL MESSAGES **\n')
         cat(do.call(rbind, c(list(dashes), msgid_plural, msgstr_plural)), sep='\n')
       }
     }]
diff --git a/R/get_message_data.R b/R/get_message_data.R
index 41a49af..f5e2104 100644
--- a/R/get_message_data.R
+++ b/R/get_message_data.R
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ get_message_data = function(
     }
   }
 
-  if (verbose && dir.exists(file.path(dir, "R"))) message('Getting R-level messages...')
+  if (verbose && dir.exists(file.path(dir, "R"))) cat('Getting R-level messages...\n')
   r_message_data = get_r_messages(
     dir,
     # nolint next: backport_linter. False positive on 'R'.
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ get_message_data = function(
     is_base = is_base
   )
 
-  if (verbose && dir.exists(file.path(dir, "src"))) message('Getting src-level messages...')
+  if (verbose && dir.exists(file.path(dir, "src"))) cat('Getting src-level messages...\n')
   src_message_data = get_src_messages(
     dir,
     custom_translation_functions = custom_translation_functions$src,
diff --git a/R/msgmerge.R b/R/msgmerge.R
index 2fe9d02..f68bace 100644
--- a/R/msgmerge.R
+++ b/R/msgmerge.R
@@ -12,14 +12,14 @@ run_msgmerge <- function(po_file, pot_file, previous = FALSE, verbose = TRUE) {
   )
 
   if (verbose) {
-    message("Running system command msgmerge ", paste(msgmerge_args, collapse = " "), "...")
+    catf("Running system command msgmerge %s ...\n", paste(msgmerge_args, collapse = " "))
   }
   val <- system2("msgmerge", msgmerge_args, stdout = TRUE, stderr = TRUE)
   if (!identical(attr(val, "status", exact = TRUE), NULL)) {
     # nocov these warnings? i don't know how to trigger them as of this writing.
     warningf("Running msgmerge on './po/%s' failed:\n  %s", basename(po_file), paste(val, collapse = "\n"))
   } else if (verbose) {
-    messagef(paste(val, collapse = "\n"))
+    writeLines(val)
   }
 
   res <- tools::checkPoFile(po_file, strictPlural = TRUE)
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ run_msgfmt = function(po_file, mo_file, verbose) {
     cmd = glue("msgfmt -o {shQuote(mo_file)} {shQuote(po_file)}") # nocov
   }
   if (verbose) {
-    message("Running system command ", cmd, "...")
+    catf("Running system command %s ...\n", cmd)
   }
   if (system(cmd) != 0L) {
     warningf(
@@ -88,13 +88,13 @@ run_msginit <- function(po_path, pot_path, locale, width = 80L, verbose = TRUE)
     "--no-translator" # don't consult user-email etc
   )
   if (verbose) {
-    message("Running system command msginit ", paste(msginit_args, collapse = " "), "...")
+    catf("Running system command msginit %s...\n", paste(msginit_args, collapse = " "))
   }
   val <- system2("msginit", msginit_args, stdout = TRUE, stderr = TRUE)
   if (!identical(attr(val, "status", exact = TRUE), NULL)) {
     stopf("Running msginit on '%s' failed", pot_path)
   } else if (verbose) {
-    messagef(paste(val, collapse = "\n"))
+    writeLines(val)
   }
   invisible()
 }
diff --git a/R/po_compile.R b/R/po_compile.R
index 630481d..804594d 100644
--- a/R/po_compile.R
+++ b/R/po_compile.R
@@ -24,8 +24,8 @@ po_compile = function(dir = ".", package = NULL, lazy = TRUE, verbose = TRUE) {
     to_delete <- mo_dirs[!basename(mo_dirs) %in% c(po_metadata$language, "en@quot")]
 
     for (dir in to_delete) {
-      if (verbose) messagef(
-        "Found a compiled translation for %s at %s, but no corresponding .po; deleting",
+      if (verbose) catf(
+        "Found a compiled translation for %s at %s, but no corresponding .po; deleting\n",
         basename(dir), dirname(dir)
       )
       unlink(dir, recursive = TRUE)
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ po_compile = function(dir = ".", package = NULL, lazy = TRUE, verbose = TRUE) {
 
   for (ii in seq_len(nrow(po_metadata))) {
     row_ii <- po_metadata[ii]
-    if (verbose) messagef("Recompiling '%s' %s translation", row_ii$language, row_ii$type)
+    if (verbose) catf("Recompiling '%s' %s translation\n", row_ii$language, row_ii$type)
     run_msgfmt(row_ii$po, row_ii$mo, verbose = verbose)
   }
 
diff --git a/R/po_create.R b/R/po_create.R
index 14d25de..eee7e83 100644
--- a/R/po_create.R
+++ b/R/po_create.R
@@ -22,10 +22,10 @@ po_create <- function(languages, dir = ".", verbose = !is_testing()) {
   for (ii in seq_len(nrow(po_files))) {
     row_ii <- po_files[ii]
     if (file.exists(row_ii$po_path)) {
-      if (verbose) messagef("Updating '%s' %s translation", row_ii$language, row_ii$type)
+      if (verbose) catf("Updating '%s' %s translation\n", row_ii$language, row_ii$type)
       run_msgmerge(row_ii$po_path, row_ii$pot_path, previous = TRUE, verbose = verbose)
     } else {
-      if (verbose) messagef("Creating '%s' %s translation", row_ii$language, row_ii$type)
+      if (verbose) catf("Creating '%s' %s translation\n", row_ii$language, row_ii$type)
       run_msginit(row_ii$po_path, row_ii$pot_path, locale = row_ii$language, verbose = verbose)
     }
   }
diff --git a/R/po_extract.R b/R/po_extract.R
index e6c603b..73c4d99 100644
--- a/R/po_extract.R
+++ b/R/po_extract.R
@@ -27,12 +27,10 @@ po_extract <- function(
 
   n <- nrow(message_data)
   if (!n) {
-    if (verbose) message('No messages to translate')
+    if (verbose) catf('No messages to translate\n')
     return(invisible())
   }
-  # TODO: messagef() is double-translating the ngettext() result...
-  #   it needs an escape valve
-  if (verbose) messagef(ngettext(n, "Found %i message", "Found %i messages"), n)
+  if (verbose) catf(ngettext(n, "Found %i message", "Found %i messages"), n, domain=NA)
 
   po_dir <- file.path(dir, 'po')
   dir.create(po_dir, showWarnings = FALSE)
diff --git a/R/po_update.R b/R/po_update.R
index 1304fed..c9a0c9b 100644
--- a/R/po_update.R
+++ b/R/po_update.R
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ po_update <- function(dir = ".", lazy = TRUE, verbose = !is_testing()) {
 
   for (ii in seq_len(nrow(meta))) {
     row_ii <- meta[ii]
-    if (verbose) messagef("Updating '%s' %s translation", row_ii$language, row_ii$type)
+    if (verbose) catf("Updating '%s' %s translation\n", row_ii$language, row_ii$type)
     run_msgmerge(row_ii$po, row_ii$pot, previous = TRUE, verbose = verbose)
   }
 
diff --git a/R/translate_package.R b/R/translate_package.R
index f411f51..5cd9fdc 100644
--- a/R/translate_package.R
+++ b/R/translate_package.R
@@ -344,13 +344,13 @@ translate_package = function(
     if (tr_update) {
       # is it worthwhile to try and distinguish the creation time of the
       #  R pot file and the src pot file? probably not...
-      messagef(
-        "Updating translation template for package '%s' (last updated %s)",
+      catf(
+        "Updating translation template for package '%s' (last updated %s)\n",
         package,
         format(file.info(r_potfile)$atime)
       )
     } else {
-      messagef("Starting translations for package '%s'", package)
+      catf("Starting translations for package '%s'\n", package)
     }
   }
   if (!tr_update) dir.create(po_dir, showWarnings = FALSE)
@@ -358,7 +358,7 @@ translate_package = function(
   message_data = get_message_data(dir, custom_translation_functions, verbose=verbose)
 
   if (!nrow(message_data)) {
-    if (verbose) message('No messages to translate; finishing')
+    if (verbose) cat('No messages to translate; finishing\n')
     return(invisible())
   }
 
@@ -369,7 +369,7 @@ translate_package = function(
   set_prompt_conn()
   on.exit(unset_prompt_conn())
 
-  if (verbose) message('Running message diagnostics...')
+  if (verbose) cat('Running message diagnostics...\n')
 
   for (diagnostic in diagnostics) {
     diagnostic <- match.fun(diagnostic)
@@ -387,13 +387,13 @@ translate_package = function(
   if (l10n_info()[["UTF-8"]]) {
     # on UTF-8 machines we install the en@quot messages too
     # TODO: streamline this -- en_quote is definitely doing some redundant stuff
-    message('Generating en@quot translations')
+    cat('Generating en@quot translations\n')
     update_en_quot_mo_files(dir, verbose)
   }
 
 
   if (is.null(languages)) {
-    if (verbose) message('No languages provided; finishing')
+    if (verbose) cat('No languages provided; finishing\n')
     return(invisible())
   }
 
@@ -411,8 +411,8 @@ translate_package = function(
     lang_file <- file.path(po_dir, glue("R-{language}.po"))
     if (tr_update && file.exists(lang_file)) {
       if (verbose) {
-        messagef(
-          'Found existing R translations for %s (%s/%s) in %s. Running msgmerge...',
+        catf(
+          'Found existing R translations for %s (%s/%s) in %s. Running msgmerge...\n',
           language, metadata$full_name_eng, metadata$full_name_native, lang_file
         )
       }
@@ -426,8 +426,8 @@ translate_package = function(
     lang_file <- file.path(po_dir, glue("{language}.po"))
     if (tr_update && file.exists(lang_file)) {
       if (verbose) {
-        messagef(
-          'Found existing src translations for %s (%s/%s) in %s. Running msgmerge...',
+        catf(
+          'Found existing src translations for %s (%s/%s) in %s. Running msgmerge...\n',
           language, metadata$full_name_eng, metadata$full_name_native, lang_file
         )
       }
@@ -448,15 +448,15 @@ translate_package = function(
     ]
 
     if (!length(new_idx)) {
-      if (verbose) messagef('Translations for %s are up to date! Skipping.', language)
+      if (verbose) catf('Translations for %s are up to date! Skipping.\n', language)
       next
     }
     if (verbose) {
-      messagef(
-        'Beginning new translations for %s (%s/%s); found %d untranslated messages',
+      catf(
+        'Beginning new translations for %s (%s/%s); found %d untranslated messages\n',
         language, metadata$full_name_eng, metadata$full_name_native, length(new_idx)
       )
-      message("(To quit translating, press 'Esc'; progress will be saved)")
+      cat("(To quit translating, press 'Esc'; progress will be saved)\n")
     }
 
     po_params$author = prompt('Thanks! Who should be credited with these translations?')
diff --git a/R/update_metadata.R b/R/update_metadata.R
index ea9c086..7bf69f4 100644
--- a/R/update_metadata.R
+++ b/R/update_metadata.R
@@ -3,9 +3,11 @@
 update_metadata = function(language) {
   metadata = data.table(code = language)
 
-  messagef("'%s' is not a known language. ", language, appendLF=FALSE)
   # perhaps refer to http://docs.translatehouse.org/projects/localization-guide/en/latest/l10n/pluralforms.html instead
-  message("Please help supply some metadata about it. You can check https://l10n.gnome.org/teams/<language>")
+  catf(
+    "'%s' is not a known language. Please help supply some metadata about it. You can check %s.\n",
+    language, "https://l10n.gnome.org/teams/<language>"
+  )
   metadata[ , "full_name_eng" := prompt("How would you refer to this language in English?")]
   metadata[ , "full_name_native" := prompt("How would you refer to this language in the language itself?")]
   metadata[ , "nplurals" := prompt(
@@ -38,7 +40,7 @@ update_metadata = function(language) {
   }
   .potools$KNOWN_LANGUAGES = rbind(.potools$KNOWN_LANGUAGES, metadata)
   setkeyv(.potools$KNOWN_LANGUAGES, "code")
-  message("Thanks! Please file an issue on GitHub to get this language recognized permanently")
+  cat("Thanks! Please file an issue on GitHub to get this language recognized permanently\n")
   metadata
 }
 
diff --git a/R/write_po_file.R b/R/write_po_file.R
index 5b45db6..66ff54f 100644
--- a/R/write_po_file.R
+++ b/R/write_po_file.R
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ write_po_files <- function(message_data, po_dir, params, template = FALSE, use_b
     ))
   }
 
-  if (verbose) messagef('Writing %s', r_file)
+  if (verbose) catf('Writing %s\n', r_file)
 
   write_po_file(
     message_data[message_source == "R"],
diff --git a/tests/testthat/_snaps/unix/po_create.md b/tests/testthat/_snaps/unix/po_create.md
index 509d0d2..f6f1a0b 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/_snaps/unix/po_create.md
+++ b/tests/testthat/_snaps/unix/po_create.md
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
     Code
       po_create("jp", verbose = TRUE)
-    Message
+    Output
       Creating 'jp' R translation
       Running system command msginit -i './po/R-test.pot' -o './po/R-jp.po' -l 'jp' -w 80 --no-translator...
       Created ./po/R-jp.po.
@@ -11,8 +11,8 @@
 
     Code
       po_create("jp", verbose = TRUE)
-    Message
+    Output
       Updating 'jp' R translation
-      Running system command msgmerge --update './po/R-jp.po' --backup=off --previous './po/R-test.pot'...
+      Running system command msgmerge --update './po/R-jp.po' --backup=off --previous './po/R-test.pot' ...
       . done.
 
diff --git a/tests/testthat/_snaps/unix/po_update.md b/tests/testthat/_snaps/unix/po_update.md
index e291d25..578fccb 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/_snaps/unix/po_update.md
+++ b/tests/testthat/_snaps/unix/po_update.md
@@ -2,11 +2,11 @@
 
     Code
       po_update(verbose = TRUE, lazy = FALSE)
-    Message
+    Output
       Updating 'fr' R translation
-      Running system command msgmerge --update './po/R-fr.po' --backup=off --previous './po/R-test.pot'.
+      Running system command msgmerge --update './po/R-fr.po' --backup=off --previous './po/R-test.pot' .
       . done.
       Updating 'ja' R translation
-      Running system command msgmerge --update './po/R-ja.po' --backup=off --previous './po/R-test.pot'.
+      Running system command msgmerge --update './po/R-ja.po' --backup=off --previous './po/R-test.pot' .
       . done.
 
diff --git a/tests/testthat/_snaps/windows/po_create.md b/tests/testthat/_snaps/windows/po_create.md
index 8ca8bd6..a81170e 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/_snaps/windows/po_create.md
+++ b/tests/testthat/_snaps/windows/po_create.md
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
     Code
       po_create("jp", verbose = TRUE)
-    Message
+    Output
       Creating 'jp' R translation
       Running system command msginit -i "./po/R-test.pot" -o "./po/R-jp.po" -l "jp" -w 80 --no-translator...
       Created ./po/R-jp.po.
@@ -11,8 +11,8 @@
 
     Code
       po_create("jp", verbose = TRUE)
-    Message
+    Output
       Updating 'jp' R translation
-      Running system command msgmerge --update "./po/R-jp.po" --backup=off --previous "./po/R-test.pot"...
+      Running system command msgmerge --update "./po/R-jp.po" --backup=off --previous "./po/R-test.pot" ...
       . done.
 
diff --git a/tests/testthat/_snaps/windows/po_update.md b/tests/testthat/_snaps/windows/po_update.md
index 2616919..6007b7a 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/_snaps/windows/po_update.md
+++ b/tests/testthat/_snaps/windows/po_update.md
@@ -2,11 +2,11 @@
 
     Code
       po_update(verbose = TRUE, lazy = FALSE)
-    Message
+    Output
       Updating 'fr' R translation
-      Running system command msgmerge --update "./po/R-fr.po" --backup=off --previous "./po/R-test.pot".
+      Running system command msgmerge --update "./po/R-fr.po" --backup=off --previous "./po/R-test.pot" .
       . done.
       Updating 'ja' R translation
-      Running system command msgmerge --update "./po/R-ja.po" --backup=off --previous "./po/R-test.pot".
+      Running system command msgmerge --update "./po/R-ja.po" --backup=off --previous "./po/R-test.pot" .
       . done.
 
diff --git a/tests/testthat/helpers.R b/tests/testthat/helpers.R
index ad61f36..8c05b20 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/helpers.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/helpers.R
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ restore_package <- function(dir, expr, tmp_conn) {
     on.exit(options(old), add = TRUE)
   }
 
-  invisible(capture.output(expr))
+  invisible(expr)
 }
 
 # TODO: I think this can just be replaced by expect_match and expect_no_match in current testthat dev
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-translate-package.R b/tests/testthat/test-translate-package.R
index 5c3d5ec..d273037 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-translate-package.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-translate-package.R
@@ -25,25 +25,32 @@ test_that("translate_package handles empty packages", {
     {
       expect_invisible(translate_package(pkg))
 
-      expect_message(translate_package(pkg, verbose=TRUE), "No messages to translate", fixed=TRUE)
+      expect_output(
+        translate_package(pkg, verbose=TRUE),
+        "No messages to translate",
+        fixed=TRUE
+      )
     }
   )
 
   # a package with no R directory (e.g. a data package)
   restore_package(
     pkg <- test_package("r_data_pkg"),
-    expect_message(translate_package(pkg, verbose=TRUE), "No messages to translate", fixed=TRUE)
+    expect_output(
+      translate_package(pkg, verbose=TRUE),
+      "No messages to translate",
+      fixed=TRUE
+    )
   )
 })
 
-test_that("translate_package works on a simple package", {
-  # simple run-through without doing translations
+test_that("works on a simple package (simple run-through without doing translations)", {
   restore_package(
     pkg <- test_package("r_msg"),
     {
-      expect_messages(
+      expect_output(
         translate_package(pkg, verbose=TRUE),
-        c("No languages provided"),
+        "No languages provided",
         fixed = TRUE
       )
 
@@ -52,27 +59,37 @@ test_that("translate_package works on a simple package", {
       pot_file <- "po/R-rMsg.pot"
       expect_true(pot_file %in% pkg_files)
       # testing gettextf's ... arguments are skipped
-      expect_all_match(readLines(file.path(pkg, pot_file)), "don't translate me", invert=TRUE, fixed=TRUE)
+      expect_no_match(readLines(file.path(pkg, pot_file)), "don't translate me", fixed=TRUE)
 
       # Non-UTF-8 machines don't run en@quot translations by default.
       #   Mostly applies to Windows, but can also apply to Unix
       #   (e.g. r-devel-linux-x86_64-debian-clang on CRAN), #191
       if (l10n_info()[["UTF-8"]]) {
-        expect_match(pkg_files, "inst/po/en@quot/LC_MESSAGES/R-rMsg.mo", all = FALSE)
+        expect_match(pkg_files, "inst/po/en@quot/LC_MESSAGES/R-rMsg.mo", all=FALSE)
       }
     }
   )
-  # do translations with mocked input
-  prompts <- restore_package(
-    pkg,
+})
+
+test_that("works on a simple package (including with translations)", {
+  restore_package(
+    pkg <- test_package("r_msg"),
     tmp_conn = mock_translation("test-translate-package-r_msg-1.input"),
     {
-      expect_messages(
-        translate_package(pkg, "zh_CN", verbose=TRUE),
-        c("Beginning new translations", "BEGINNING TRANSLATION", "Recompiling 'zh_CN' R translation"),
+      expect_message(
+        {
+          translation_log <- capture.output(translate_package(pkg, "zh_CN", verbose=TRUE))
+        },
+        "BEGINNING TRANSLATION",
         fixed = TRUE
       )
 
+      expect_match(translation_log, "^---^", fixed=TRUE, all=FALSE)
+      expect_match(translation_log, "^^", fixed=TRUE, all=FALSE)
+      
+      expect_match(translation_log, "Beginning new translations", fixed=TRUE, all=FALSE)
+      expect_match(translation_log, "Recompiling 'zh_CN' R translation", fixed=TRUE, all=FALSE)
+
       pkg_files <- list.files(pkg, recursive = TRUE)
 
       expect_true("po/R-zh_CN.po" %in% pkg_files)
@@ -86,13 +103,13 @@ test_that("translate_package works on a simple package", {
       expect_match(zh_translations, "该起床了", all = FALSE)
     }
   )
-  expect_all_match(prompts, c("^---^", "^^"), fixed=TRUE)
+})
 
-  # all translations already done
+test_that("works on a simple package where translations are already done", {
   restore_package(
-    pkg,
+    pkg <- test_package("r_msg"),
     {
-      expect_messages(
+      expect_output(
         translate_package(pkg, "fa", verbose=TRUE),
         "Translations for fa are up to date! Skipping",
         fixed = TRUE
@@ -103,120 +120,125 @@ test_that("translate_package works on a simple package", {
 
 test_that("translate_package works on package with outdated (fuzzy) translations", {
   # simple run-through without doing translations
-  prompts = restore_package(
+  restore_package(
     pkg <- test_package("r_fuzzy"),
     tmp_conn = mock_translation("test-translate-package-r_fuzzy-1.input"),
     {
-      expect_messages(
-        translate_package(pkg, "zh_CN", verbose=TRUE),
-        c("translations marked as deprecated", "SINGULAR MESSAGES", "PLURAL MESSAGES"),
-        fixed = TRUE
+      expect_message(
+        expect_message(
+          {
+            translation_log <- capture.output(translate_package(pkg, "zh_CN", verbose=TRUE))
+          },
+          "translations marked as deprecated",
+          fixed = TRUE
+        ),
+        "BEGINNING TRANSLATION"
       )
+
+      expect_match(translation_log, "SINGULAR MESSAGES", fixed=TRUE, all=FALSE)
+      expect_match(translation_log, "PLURAL MESSAGES", fixed=TRUE, all=FALSE)
+      expect_match(translation_log, "a similar message was previously translated as", fixed=TRUE, all=FALSE)
     }
   )
-  expect_match(prompts, "a similar message was previously translated as", all=FALSE)
 })
 
 # NB: keep this test here (not in test-diagnostics) to keep coverage of the diagnostic flow in translate_package()
 test_that("translate_package identifies potential translations in cat() calls", {
-  prompts = restore_package(
+  restore_package(
     pkg <- test_package("r_cat_msg"),
     tmp_conn = mock_translation("test-translate-package-r_cat_message-1.input"),
     {
-      expect_messages(
-        translate_package(pkg, "zh_CN"),
+      expect_message(
+        {
+          translation_log <- capture.output(translate_package(pkg, "zh_CN"))
+        },
         "Found 4 untranslated messaging calls passed through cat()",
         fixed = TRUE
       )
+      expect_match(translation_log, 'cat(gettext("I warned you!"), fill=TRUE)', fixed=TRUE, all=FALSE)
+      expect_match(translation_log, 'cat(gettext("Oh no you\\ndon\'t!"))', fixed=TRUE, all=FALSE)
+      expect_match(translation_log, "Hixxboss", fixed=TRUE, all=FALSE)
+      expect_no_match(translation_log, "shouldn't be translated", fixed=TRUE)
+      expect_no_match(translation_log, "Miss me", fixed=TRUE)
     }
   )
-  expect_all_match(
-    prompts,
-    c(
-      'cat(gettext("I warned you!"), fill=TRUE)',
-      'cat(gettext("Oh no you\\ndon\'t!"))',
-      "Hixxboss"
-    ),
-    fixed=TRUE
-  )
-  expect_all_match(
-    prompts,
-    c("shouldn't be translated", "Miss me"),
-    fixed=TRUE, invert=TRUE
-  )
 })
 
+# NB: this test will fail if test_that is re-run on the same R session since potools'
+#   internal state is altered for the remainder of the session... not sure it's worth changing...
 test_that('Unknown language flow works correctly', {
-  prompts = restore_package(
+  restore_package(
     pkg <- test_package('r_msg'),
     tmp_conn = mock_translation('test-translate-package-r_msg-2.input'),
     {
-      expect_messages(
-        # earlier, did Arabic, but now that's a chosen language. switched two Welsh on the
-        #   (perhaps naive) judgment that it's unlikely to enter our scope anytime soon
-        #   and because there are still several (4) plural forms
-        translate_package(pkg, 'cy'),
-        c(
-          'not a known language', 'Please file an issue',
-          # NB: this test will fail if test_that is re-run on the same R session since potools'
-          #   internal state is altered for the remainder of the session... not sure it's worth changing...
-          "Did not match any known 'plural's"
+      # earlier, did Arabic, but now that's a chosen language. switched two Welsh on the
+      #   (perhaps naive) judgment that it's unlikely to enter our scope anytime soon
+      #   and because there are still several (4) plural forms
+      expect_message(
+        expect_message(
+          {
+            translation_log <- capture.output(translate_package(pkg, 'cy'))
+          },
+          "Did not match any known 'plural's",
+          fixed=TRUE
         ),
-        fixed=TRUE
+        "Input must be of type.*Trying again"
       )
+
+      expect_match(translation_log, 'not a known language', fixed=TRUE, all=FALSE)
+      expect_match(translation_log, 'Please file an issue', fixed=TRUE, all=FALSE)
+
+      # also include coverage tests of incorrect templating in supplied translations
+      expect_match(translation_log, 'How would you refer to this language in English?', fixed=TRUE, all=FALSE)
+      expect_match(translation_log, 'received the same set of templates', fixed=TRUE, all=FALSE)
+      expect_match(translation_log, 'received 2 unique templated arguments', fixed=TRUE, all=FALSE)
+      expect_match(translation_log, 'received 4 unique templated arguments', fixed=TRUE, all=FALSE)
+      expect_match(translation_log, 'received 5 unique templated arguments', fixed=TRUE, all=FALSE)
     }
   )
-  # also include coverage tests of incorrect templating in supplied translations
-  expect_all_match(
-    prompts,
-    c(
-      'How would you refer to this language in English?',
-      'received the same set of templates',
-      'received 2 unique templated arguments',
-      'received 4 unique templated arguments',
-      'received 5 unique templated arguments'
-    ),
-    fixed=TRUE
-  )
+})
 
-  # whitespace matching for plural is lenient, #183
-  prompts = restore_package(
+test_that('Whitespace matching for plural is lenient in unknown language flow, #183', {
+  restore_package(
     pkg <- test_package('r_msg'),
     tmp_conn = mock_translation('test-translate-package-r_msg-5.input'),
     {
-      expect_messages(
-        # Catalan -- romance language with >1 plural
-        translate_package(pkg, 'ca', diagnostics=NULL),
-        c("Did not match any known 'plural's"),
-        fixed=TRUE, invert=TRUE
-      )
+      translation_log <- capture.output(translate_package(pkg, 'ca', diagnostics=NULL))
+
+      # Catalan -- romance language with >1 plural
+      expect_no_match(translation_log, "Did not match any known 'plural's", fixed=TRUE)
+      expect_match(translation_log, "when n = 1", fixed=TRUE, all=FALSE)
+      expect_match(translation_log, "when n is not 1", fixed=TRUE, all=FALSE)
     }
   )
-  expect_all_match(
-    prompts,
-    c("when n = 1", "when n is not 1"),
-    fixed = TRUE
-  )
 })
 
-test_that('Erroneous messages stop get_specials_metadata', {
+test_that('Erroneous messages stop get_specials_metadata (invalid templated message)', {
   restore_package(
     pkg <- test_package('r_msg'),
     tmp_conn = mock_translation('test-translate-package-r_msg-3.input'),
     {
       expect_error(
-        translate_package(pkg, 'zh_CN', diagnostics = NULL),
+        expect_output(
+          translate_package(pkg, 'zh_CN', diagnostics = NULL),
+          "Writing R-rMsg.pot", fixed = TRUE
+        ),
         'Invalid templated message. If any %N$', fixed = TRUE
       )
     }
   )
+})
 
+test_that('Erroneous messages stop get_specials_metadata (all messages point to the same input)', {
   restore_package(
     pkg <- test_package('r_msg'),
     tmp_conn = mock_translation('test-translate-package-r_msg-4.input'),
     {
       expect_error(
-        translate_package(pkg, 'zh_CN', diagnostics = NULL),
+        expect_output(
+          translate_package(pkg, 'zh_CN', diagnostics = NULL),
+          "Writing R-rMsg.pot", fixed = TRUE
+        ),
         'all messages pointing to the same input', fixed = TRUE
       )
     }
@@ -224,11 +246,18 @@ test_that('Erroneous messages stop get_specials_metadata', {
 })
 
 test_that("Packages with src code work correctly", {
-  prompts = restore_package(
+  restore_package(
     pkg <- test_package('r_src_c'),
     tmp_conn = mock_translation('test-translate-package-r_src_c-1.input'),
     {
-      translate_package(pkg, "zh_CN", diagnostics = check_untranslated_src)
+      translation_log <- capture.output(
+        translate_package(pkg, "zh_CN", diagnostics=check_untranslated_src)
+      )
+      expect_match(translation_log, "Rprintf(_(", fixed=TRUE, all=FALSE)
+      expect_match(translation_log, "warning(_(", fixed=TRUE, all=FALSE)
+
+      # error(ngettext(...)) doesn't show error() in check_untranslated_src
+      expect_no_match(translation_log, "Problematic call", fixed=TRUE)
 
       pkg_files <- list.files(pkg, recursive = TRUE)
       expect_true("po/R-zh_CN.po" %in% pkg_files)
@@ -278,38 +307,22 @@ test_that("Packages with src code work correctly", {
       )
     }
   )
-
-  expect_all_match(
-    prompts,
-    c("Rprintf(_(", "warning(_("),
-    fixed = TRUE
-  )
-
-  # error(ngettext(...)) doesn't show error() in check_untranslated_src
-  expect_all_match(
-    prompts,
-    "Problematic call",
-    invert = TRUE, fixed = TRUE
-  )
 })
 
 test_that("Packages with src code & fuzzy messages work", {
-  prompts = restore_package(
+  restore_package(
     pkg <- test_package("r_src_fuzzy"),
     tmp_conn = mock_translation('test-translate-package-r_src_fuzzy-1.input'),
     {
-      expect_messages(
-        translate_package(pkg, "zh_CN", verbose = TRUE),
-        "Found existing src translations",
-        fixed = TRUE
+      expect_output(
+        expect_message(
+          translate_package(pkg, "zh_CN", verbose = TRUE),
+          "BEGINNING TRANSLATION", fixed = TRUE
+        ),
+        "Found existing src translations.*Note: a similar message was previously translated as"
       )
     }
   )
-  expect_all_match(
-    prompts,
-    "Note: a similar message was previously translated as",
-    fixed = TRUE
-  )
 })
 
 # TODO: separate get_message_data() tests from write_po_files() tests here
@@ -317,7 +330,10 @@ test_that("Various edge cases in retrieving/outputting messages in R files are h
   restore_package(
     pkg <- test_package("unusual_msg"),
     {
-      translate_package(pkg, diagnostics = NULL)
+      expect_output(
+        translate_package(pkg, diagnostics = NULL),
+        "Writing R-rMsgUnusual.pot", fixed=TRUE
+      )
 
       r_pot_file <- readLines(file.path(pkg, "po", "R-rMsgUnusual.pot"))
       src_pot_file <- readLines(file.path(pkg, "po", "rMsgUnusual.pot"))
@@ -385,7 +401,11 @@ test_that("use_base_rules=FALSE produces our preferred behavior", {
     pkg <- test_package("unusual_msg"),
     tmp_conn = mock_translation("test-translate-package-unusual_msg-1.input"),
     {
-      translate_package(pkg, "es", copyright = "Mata Hari", diagnostics = NULL)
+      expect_output(
+        translate_package(pkg, "es", copyright = "Mata Hari", diagnostics = NULL),
+        "Writing R-rMsgUnusual.pot", fixed=TRUE
+      )
+
       r_pot_lines <- readLines(file.path(pkg, "po", "R-rMsgUnusual.pot"))
       src_pot_lines <- readLines(file.path(pkg, "po", "rMsgUnusual.pot"))
 
@@ -425,7 +445,11 @@ test_that("use_base_rules=TRUE produces base-aligned behavior", {
     pkg <- test_package("unusual_msg"),
     tmp_conn = mock_translation("test-translate-package-unusual_msg-1.input"),
     {
-      translate_package(pkg, "es", use_base_rules = TRUE, diagnostics = NULL)
+      expect_output(
+        translate_package(pkg, "es", use_base_rules = TRUE, diagnostics = NULL),
+        "R-rMsgUnusual.pot", fixed=TRUE
+      )
+
       r_pot_lines <- readLines(file.path(pkg, "po", "R-rMsgUnusual.pot"))
       src_pot_lines <- readLines(file.path(pkg, "po", "rMsgUnusual.pot"))
 
@@ -470,7 +494,10 @@ test_that("use_base_rules is auto-detected", {
   restore_package(
     pkg <- test_package("r-devel/src/library/grDevices"),
     {
-      translate_package(pkg, diagnostics = NULL)
+      expect_output(
+        translate_package(pkg, diagnostics = NULL),
+        "Writing R-grDevices.pot", fixed=TRUE
+      )
 
       r_pot_lines <- readLines(file.path(pkg, 'po', 'R-grDevices.pot'))
       src_pot_lines <- readLines(file.path(pkg, 'po', 'grDevices.pot'))
@@ -529,7 +556,10 @@ test_that("translation of 'base' works correctly", {
       file.copy(tmp_potfiles, correct_potfiles)
       on.exit(unlink(tmp_potfiles), add = TRUE)
 
-      translate_package(pkg, diagnostics = NULL)
+      expect_output(
+        translate_package(pkg, diagnostics = NULL),
+        "Writing R-base.pot", fixed=TRUE
+      )
 
       expect_true(file.exists(file.path(pkg, 'po', 'R-base.pot')))
       expect_true(file.exists(file.path(pkg, 'po', 'R.pot')))
@@ -555,16 +585,14 @@ test_that("translation of 'base' works correctly", {
 })
 
 test_that("max_translations works as expected", {
-  prompts <- restore_package(
+  restore_package(
     pkg <- test_package("r_msg"),
     tmp_conn = mock_translation('test-translate-package-r_msg-1.input'),
     {
-      translate_package(pkg, 'es', max_translations = 1L, diagnostics = NULL)
+      translation_log <- capture.output(
+        translate_package(pkg, 'es', max_translations = 1L, diagnostics = NULL)
+      )
+      expect_no_match(translation_log, "Oh no you don't!")
     }
   )
-  expect_all_match(
-    prompts,
-    "Oh no you don't!",
-    fixed = TRUE, invert = TRUE
-  )
 })