Question re: US, CAN, UK, AUS English editions

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Grace Elliot

American spelling differs from UK spelling - as I discovered to my cost.
My debut novel was published with UK spellings - no special US edition, and let's just say the level of criticism was such that I now use US spelling - even in the UK editions (can't afford to have a US and UK editor! )

Are your books set in Britain or in the US? If they're set in Britain, damn the critics and use British spellings, would be my advice.

[MikeB1972]

Originally Posted by theducks

OMG these folk might be my neighbors.

UK Spelling is part of the book

Here is a question for UK English writers:
Your main character is visiting the USA.
In the lobby of a High rise Office. They look at the sign "Elevators -> "

Do you change that to "Lifts ->" in a UK edition?

Nope, they look at the little picture of people in a box with up and down arrows

[theducks]

Originally Posted by HarryT

No, it's not shown in the UK, so I'm afraid I can't comment on it.

When American actors do try to use British accents, they are rarely convincing. The most atrocious example I can think of is perhaps Dick Van Dyke's "Cockney" accent in the film "Mary Poppins" .

Which is why I applauded that J K Rowling insisted on using British Actors.

[Victoria]

Originally Posted by HarryT

No, it's not shown in the UK, so I'm afraid I can't comment on it.

When American actors do try to use British accents, they are rarely convincing. The most atrocious example I can think of is perhaps Dick Van Dyke's "Cockney" accent in the film "Mary Poppins" .

Originally Posted by theducks

Which is why I applauded that J K Rowling insisted on using British Actors.

pretty bad.

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by HarryT

When American actors do try to use British accents, they are rarely convincing. The most atrocious example I can think of is perhaps Dick Van Dyke's "Cockney" accent in the film "Mary Poppins" .

And the reverse is true. The actors concentrate on their speech so that they lose the emotion and intensity. The words don't come naturally. It seems strained.

With so many TV shows and movies filmed away from their locations local actors are used to the detriment of realism. The TV series "Fringe" is a glaring example.

[carpetmojo]

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

Hear hear .....

It's a reflection of the supemarket/tabloid/ mentality in marketing......

Always assume the target audience is a) thick or b) parochial or c) incapable of any independent thought ......

[calvin-c]

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

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?)

[susan_cassidy]

I do. I've read tons of British books over the years, and learned many of the idioms.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Victoria

I'm curious if you find the same holds true for television? Are American PBS 'British' productions, such as Masterpiece Theatre, played in Britain, and if so, do they seem Americanized? I realize British actors etc are used, but just wonder if their US origins show through in any way.

Whatever they are--Americanized or not--they're certainly edited. Which annoys me no end. Watching the "British" version of some shows versus what was broadcast on PBS or, some years earlier, A&E, is seriously irritating, when you see the bits that get edited out, or worse, re-shot with purportedly inoffensive language. And heavens forfend we see naked people.

Anyway, back OT: I say Americanized spellings be damned. If you've written a British book, and feel that you'll be pilloried by the ignorati, simply put something on the front-matter that says "UK Spellings," or what-have-you. (This kinda leads back to the Austen thread, in a way). Who wants to read Lord Peter Wimsey with "color?" Or worse, since we don't have Lords here, maybe we should revise him to be a Real Estate tycoon? It's daft. Should Honeysuckle Weeks in "Foyle's War" say "super-duper" instead of "tickety-boo?" In ebooks, we can look stuff up in seconds, if needed.

Pah.

Hitch