[HPFGU-OTChatter] Questions for our UK HPphiles

[GulPlum]

At 17:24 24/05/03 , Anne wrote:
>Hi all, I'm just getting into writing my own HP fan fics (after
>reading a great many by other HP fans) and would appreciate help on a
>few details. First, the word PUDDING. In the U.S. it usually applies
>to a specific type of food, which can be eaten as a dessert or a
>snack. Does "pudding" just mean "pudding" in Britain, or does it
>mean "any kind of dessert-type dish eaten after the main evening
>meal"?

Actually, it means both. Usage can be [something] pudding (not all of which 
are desserts), but without a qualifier, it basically means the same as 
"dessert".

So, e.g. "Do you want pudding?" or "I'm not a pudding person" refer to an 
offer of, or general dislike for, dessert dishes. But "black pudding" is 
what some cultures refer to as "blood sausage", or there's "pease pudding" 
and several others which aren't desserts, or "rice pudding", which is. 
(it's all to do with the etymology of the word)

>Second, are there "generic" phone numbers in Britain? Here in the US,
>the "generic" telephone exchange is 555 (so no phone number starting
>with 555 is identifiable to any specific person because the only
>phone number that starts with 555 in the US is 555-1212, which
>is "information" for each area code). Did that make sense? What, if
>anything, is the generic British equivalent of 555? I admit to being
>totally clueless about UK phone numbers.

The British telephone system is entirely different. Bear in mind that we 
are *much* more densely populated than the USA, and thus a different 
approach is required.

Phone numbers are based on area/town code plus local number. The area code 
is from three to five digits starting with 0, and the local number is 
between six to eight numbers (although the vast majority of the country has 
a seven-digit local number; eight-digit numbers only appear in London). In 
the case of seven-digit numbers, the first three digits are the "exchange 
code", from which you can generally determine a single telephone exchange 
(this isn't strictly the case any more due to deregulation and number 
portability).

Common area codes:

London: 020 (plus eight digits, of which the first is either 7 for central 
London or 8 otherwise).

Birmingham: 0121 (plus seven digits)

Oxford: 01865 (plus either six or seven digits)

Calls from outside those cities requite the full number (including area 
code) to be dialled; calls from within that area do not need the area code. 
So, for instance, calling the House of Commons from London, you dial 7219 
3000. If you're dialling from, say, Oxford, you dial 020 7219 3000.

An interesting extension on your 555 1212 example: until the advent of the 
emergency call system (999 in the UK, 911 in the US), you could get through 
to your local police station by dialling the local exchange number plus 
1212 (most police stations' main number still ends 1212, although not every 
exchange code plus 121 will get through to the police - my sister had a *** 
1212 number and regularly had calls in the middle of the night destined for 
the police station which was around the corner from her home, but came 
under a different telephone exchange).

Furthermore, there are special "area" codes which are for special systems 
and are area-independent. Examples:
076 (plus seven digits): pagers
077*(*), 078*(*), 079*(*) (plus six digits) cell phones
0800: "free" calls (the equivalent of 800 numbers in the USA)
0844/0871 (plus seven digits) Internet dialup numbers

Numbers starting 09 (plus six to nine digits) are "premium rate" numbers, 
such as adult chat lines.

Back to the question, though: there isn't any kind of reserved number used 
for fictional purposes. British fiction (books, movies, TV) will either use 
a real number if appropriate, or not include an area code. The number 
itself will probably be valid, and nobody can fault the producer/writer if 
someone is stupid enough to try to call a number without an area code.

You don't say who is calling whom in your fic, so further details would be 
required for any more specific advice. If it's the Dursleys' number you're 
trying to invent, you can make up any seven-digit number you want. Surrey 
is HUGE and comprises several area codes. It all depends on whereabouts in 
Surrey you want Little Whinging to be (I like to imagine that it's 
somewhere around Haslemere, which is about as far as you can get in Surrey 
from London - it has an area code 01428).

If you have any more questions, please feel free to ask...

--
GulPlum AKA Richard, probably offering more information than was strictly 
necessary :-)