[the_old_crowd] British vs. American Editions (was Re: Database...)

[Neil Ward]

Not really spoilery....

Scott said:

<< --My British edition came Thursday, but I haven't had time to finish it
yet. Mostly the differences seem minimal, certainly the least of any of the
books so far, and are confined to the spelling of words such as
"neighbours"/"neighbors" or "pyjamas"/"pajamas".
<snip> Has anyone noticed anything else? It's easy in the mass of words that
is OOP to overlook something... >>

Steve mentioned off list that most of the British phrases he saw were
familiar to him, so perhaps there aren't so many odd ones in there.  He
asked me a few questions, which I hope he won't mind my mentioning here: one
was asking what an Alice Band is (Umbridge wears one at one point - it's a
headband like Alice in Wonderland wears) and another was checking that
hosepipe was the same thing as a garden hose (it is).  [Steve, btw, I phoned
a friend earlier and she had to turn off her hose to speak to me.  She said
she has to tell the local water board that she owns a hosepipe and a
sprinkler so they can charge her extra.].  What was the other thing?  Oh
yes - could the word lairy be used normally in the phrase "lairy fights" (I
thought not).

I did notice one reference to a "store-lined street" in my UK edition.  That
struck me as rather American (as we say shops, not stores), but then we do
refer to department stores, so I guess it's not unusual.

**
Penny said:

<< Like Scott, I'm not very far into my re-read using the UK edition.  The
only phrase I was completely unfamiliar with was "take the mickey out of"
....... but checking my UK/US Lexicon, it means to razz or give someone a
hard time. >>

Yes, to tease someone.  I have no idea of the origin though.

<< Anyway, one of the questions posed was why Ron is all of a sudden
referring to Harry as "mate," *all the time.*  He did use that term once in
GoF, and I've heard Fred & George use it a few times.  But, the difference
was startling with OoP.  Darrin on the main list wonders whether this is a
term that an adolescent male wouldn't pick up and use much with his buddies
until he was 15/16.  Any comments? >>

I noticed that several characters using the word "mate," but maybe it was
mainly Ron.  It was a bit irritating, yes, but "mate" is one of the words
that some people tack onto every sentence (like "y'know what I mean?",
"yeah?" and "innit?") and seem unable to stop themselves.  Calling people
mate is quite a London thing, but I wouldn't say it's exclusive to London.

Neil