OT US/UK English

[Rowena Grunnion-Ffitch]

No: HPFGUIDX 26516



--- Tabouli <tabouli at unite.com.au> wrote:

> (insert hasty disclaimer that I am open to
> correction from outraged North Americans and Britons
> before I continue my comments).  A lot of fanfic
> writers pointedly sprinkled in a lot of classic
> English slang, but unconsciously used a lot of very
> US words instinctively: for example, characters
> saying "You're nuts" (a very American expression),
> rather than "You're mad" (mad meaning "angry" rather
> than "crazy" in American English), and the regular
> use of the term "dating", which AFAIK is not used as
> much outside the US and Canada.

   Ah, so that's why everybody keeps talking about
'partners' for the Yule Ball rather than 'dates'.
   Mistakes in slang go the other way too. I recall
one Doctor Who episode, (Fifth Doctor) in which a
supposedly American character describes the villain as
'doing a bunk' thus leading to murmurs of 'say what?'
from across the fruited plains. Nor will I ever forget
the expressions of total bewilderment on the faces of
my American Who Fan Club as we watched the Cricket
game in 'Black Orchid'. Nor did the explanations of
our British born president help much - Quidditch is
simple by comparison.
   Like the man said; two great nations divided by a
common language.

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