US & UK editions,

[judyserenity]

No: HPFGUIDX 35585

Colebiancardi took the position that it was not a problem when 
Scholastic substituted American terms for the English terms in the 
Potter series. 

GulPlum replied:

> The one major issue I have with this position is that no publisher 
> has ever seen the need to "correct" UK editions of any American book 
> I've ever read. OK, So King, Grisham and all the other blockbuster 
> writers are marketed at an adult audience so it's accepted that we 
> adult Brits can manage. But American children's and youth literature 
> (which admittedly isn't that big over here because we have a very 
> rich local tradition) has never seen the need when publishing in 
> Britain to change a single word...<

Well, perhaps it is true that American books are usually published in 
Britain without modifications.  I live in the US, so I'll take your 
word for it.  However, this isn't the question relevant to the 
Potter books. The question relevant to the Potter books is, "How often 
are *British* books modified for publication in the *US*?" 

I think it's pretty common for British books to be modified when they 
are published in the US.  My sister is a book indexer, and has often 
indexed the American editions of British books; she says changes are 
very common when a British book is published in the US.

Maybe the reason for this assymmetry is that here in the US, we have 
little exposure to British popular culture.  Perhaps in England, 
people have some amount of exposure to American TV shows, songs, etc., 
and pick up some US slang. 

By the way, I found it really irksome that "Philosopher's Stone" was 
changed to "Sorcerer's Stone", but didn't mind the other changes.  The 
books still "sound" quite British to me, even with the chnages.

Judy