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Tuesday, 19 February 2013

Crisps and Chips - UK and US English

Yesterday evening I was delighted to have a Skype discussion with a book club in Defiance, Ohio, (how cool a name is that for a town?) who were reading Remix. It's awesome not only to be able to chat to readers across the Atlantic, but to see them on screen.

 Karen, who contacted me, had made a list of unfamiliar British expressions she'd come across in my novel; she and the other members guessed the meaning then I attempted to give a definition. What struck me was how many words in use here are unknown over there - so many that I now have a new respect for my American readers. I knew about the obvious ones, like tap and faucet, boot and trunk, trousers and pants, but that's not the half of it.

 One word I'd already learned about and have avoided in my later books is "jumper". In America, a jumper is a sleeveless dress worn over a blouse or sweater or a child's garment consisting of straight-legged pants attached to a biblike bodice. When Caz pulls on a sloppy jumper over her dress US readers are not visualizing her outfit as I see it. I now stick to sweater.

 Jeff Pike was responsible for the most incomprehensible words as he uses slang and swears a lot. Examples: "can't be arsed," "I don't give a toss," "saddo", "tosser", "poncey", "gaff". Caz's vocabulary is milder, but "Bog off" and "bally" were puzzling.

 I didn't know that in America a plaster is a bandaid.  A torch is a flashlight. Karen explained that a torch means a flaming brand; the advantage is theirs, as we have to make do with one word for both. Chocolate digestives are unknown in the US, and I struggled to explain why they are called digestives (possibly advertised as good for the digestion?)

 Parkour and ligger are perhaps a little obscure even in this country. Still, what good is a book if you don't learn the odd new word from it?

Posted by Lexi at Tuesday, February 19, 2013

15 comments:

  1. fairyhedgehog19 February 2013 at 18:15

    I love the English feel of your books and I'm sorry that you're going to have to abandon "jumper".

    I'm used to US novels using words in unfamiliar ways but the obscurity of the words in your novel was invisible to me seeing that I speak the same language!

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  2. Lexi19 February 2013 at 18:21

    I think we're helped over here by seeing so many US films - we pick up the meanings of words painlessly. Except for grits. I've looked them up and had them explained by US friends and they just don't stick. Some type of US muesli?

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  3. fairyhedgehog19 February 2013 at 21:22

    I'm stumped by grits too. They don't sound terribly appetising!

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  4. Botanist20 February 2013 at 00:33

    I've been living this for the past 8 years :) All those examples are very familiar to me, having had to adjust my everyday vocabulary to suit the country I'm living in (Canadian is very close to American English, except we get to keep a lot of British spellings).

    What bugs me, though, is how everyone else in the world is expected to just deal with Americanisms in books and movies, but the cultural exchange is mostly a one-way street.

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  5. russell120020 February 2013 at 01:12

    Lift = Elevator

    There are so many different words involved with women's clothing, I get lost outside of the basics.

    Benny Hill used to be very popular in the U.S., so for a time we were all up on the British slang.

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  6. fairyhedgehog20 February 2013 at 07:21

    "What bugs me, though, is how everyone else in the world is expected to just deal with Americanisms in books and movies, but the cultural exchange is mostly a one-way street. "

    Botanist, that's pretty much what I wanted to say only I couldn't think of how to say it!

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  7. Lexi20 February 2013 at 08:29

    I think this is a little unfair. My Defiance readers are a game lot and not fazed by my idiosyncratic English. Very few of my US Amazon reviews mention the subject, and when they do it tends to be in tones of amused tolerance.

    (But I'll never understand Benny Hill's popularity.)

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  8. Anonymous20 February 2013 at 17:41

    I must admit I do find it galling that Americans expect us to do and spell everything their way. However I agree with Lexi that it does make it difficult. I have the same very British style so I publish my stuff with a caveat. I am wondering if I should add a glossary.

    Cheers

    MTM

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  9. Anonymous20 February 2013 at 17:42

    Difficult for them I meant... doh!

    Cheers

    MTM

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  10. marion25 February 2013 at 23:10

    People in the US who watch a lot of British television (generally on our public "educational" channels) usually get some of the words. I know that readers sometimes have trouble with regional words or phrases, but for me, I want my Londoners to sound different than New Yorkers even if I have to work it out or suffer from some temporary confusion. Besides with the internet, no one has to remain ignorant.

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  11. Lexi26 February 2013 at 11:03

    Marion, if ever you need a Londoner to run some dialogue past, just ask :o)

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  12. Unknown27 February 2013 at 14:58

    Back in 2011 we had a whole month on the various peculiarities between US and UK English on our blog: http://www.macmillandictionaryblog.com/regional-english/american-english

    In fact, we'll be revisiting this on the blog fairly soon in the run-up to the forthcoming TESOL conference in Dallas. All comments most welcome!

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  13. Lexi27 February 2013 at 15:48

    Thanks Finn; having taken a look at your blog, it's more of a minefield than I realized. Who knew fairy lights could offend?

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  14. Anonymous2 March 2013 at 21:50

    I'd have to have chocolate digestives shipped over if I lived in the US.
    Grace x

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  15. Lexi3 March 2013 at 09:19

    So would my daughter, Grace :o)

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