Quote:
Originally Posted by Apache
I wish they would not do it at all. For books written in or about the UK I prefer the original slang and usage. It tends to spoil a book written in the UK about the UK and you see elevator or trunk.
Apache
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Whereas I find it totally spoils a book when I have to stop reading to figure out what a bonnet is on a car. At first I thought it was the British term for a bra but I found out that it isn't. Do you also prefer that French books not be translated? Or books in a language in which you aren't literate? (Assuming that maybe you can read French. It's not that big an assumption. Maybe I should have used Greek as an example.)
Rule of thumb, for me at least, is that if the term isn't commonly understood in the new market then it should be translated. I don't think spelling needs to change (whether a word is 'misspelled' in the British or American manner I think it's understandable by both). Slang probably should be changed. And even more so if it's that 'rhyming' slang. (Does any non-British-speaker really understand that a 'butchers' means taking a look at something?)