Spelling Deliberately misspelling a misheard word

Great example Thanks! I’ll give that a go and see if I can find some inspiration, either from good or bad examples.

 

Being post-apoc will be harder, but find a list of words that are different in British and American English (gas/petrol, torch/flashlight, prime minister/lunatic ) and toss in a couple of them early on, people will catch on.

 

That's a really nice example. In that case, she misheard it and thought it was a different word, which could be spelt correctly. This is slightly different in that "awfun" isn't word (yet). I suppose in practical terms it doesn't really make any difference though.

That's a brilliant idea. Not wanting to be disrespectful, but would American readers recognise the British English vocabulary as such? As a British English reader, I would immediately pick up that gas, flashlight, president etc. would suggest an American speaker, but we have a lot of American TV over here so we hear that vocab a lot. I don't think America has as much British TV or other content, so would most Americans recognise the vocab as British English?

 

Yes. I would immediately pick up on it.

 

Thanks. I hope it wasn't a rude question.

 

Not at all. Even if Americans aren't necessarily familiar with British English, they are familiar with American, so when a flashlight is called a 'torch' or a motorcycle is called a 'motor bike', etc. it clicks pretty quickly I think.

 

As somebody who loves both math/science and British telly, that sounds like a scientist character never using scientific terminology because an author assumes that a reader wouldn't recognize it.

Teach them British English versus American English

 

True, I hadn't thought of it from that perspective. Thanks

Interesting point. However, my priority in fiction is to ensure what I write is understood by as many people as possible. If that means avoiding a dialect that a large number of people could misunderstand, then I'll do it. When I'm writing something academic (such as my Masters thesis) then I will absolutely use technical terms where appropriate, and work on the assumption that the reader either understands them, or has the ability to find the definition. As a reader, if I'm reading something factual then I would consider it acceptable to have to look up words to check the meaning. When reading fiction, however, it would become tiresome (and contrary to immersion) to repeatedly have to do this because I didn't understand the terms used in the characters' dialect.

 

The terms mentioned so far are fine. There are a few words that are quite different in US/UK--for example, people will giggle if a male character is wearing a jumper, because in the US that's a particular kind of dress, worn most often by children. And, say, "zebra crossing" might require context of trigger a conversation. But mostly there will be no issue.

 

That never occurred to me. I'm so used to hearing sweaters referred to as 'jumpers' on knitting sites, I don't even question it anymore.

What is a zebra crossing? (conversation triggered)

 

@ChickenFreak
I had no idea jumper meant that in US English. I said we'd all be wearing wool jumpers when I described SethLoki's writing nook. I meant sweaters

@Trish
It's a set of white stripes across a road for pedestrians to walk across. All road traffic is required to stop for any pedestrian who wants to cross there. It's like the one in that famous picture of the Beatles.

 

@mashers you did say jumpers, and I knew what you meant. Didn't even blink.

So... a crosswalk. Interesting.

 

There are a few British terms that would require context for an American reader. Of the few mentioned, torch would be the biggest one, I think.

If you have two characters a wooded area and described one holding a torch, a fair few American readers would automatically go to the fire variety.

That said, context is a powerful tool, and at some point, you just have to trust the intelligence of the reader, which can be difficult considering the current state of the world...

 

@Spencer1990
That's useful to know about torch, because these characters are actually going to use one. And by torch I mean flashlight. And by flashlight I mean battery operated handheld lighting equipment

 

@mashers
You could fix that by having the character hope that the batteries will last.

 

Exactly. A quick line can clear the situation right up. You can talk about the color of the light, battery life, the beam from the torch itself, etc. It doesn't need to be much.

 

@Trish @Spencer1990
That was my plan I'm now thinking of going back over what I've already written and checking for other Britishisms I can shoehorn in

 

Even "switched on the torch" will probably do it. I suspect(?) that most Americans have the non-flame meaning in their "I heard this on BBCAmerica" vocabulary, even if they'd go to flames first.

 

I don't know how true this is. I hadn't heard the term until fairly recently. I listen to a lot of BBC programing on the radio and if I had heard it, it never really registered. Of course, this is just anecdotal evidence.

 

Some of them do. I don't know, where I am we call them all 'crosswalks' - no animals involved or lights needed. I'd need a key code just to walk down the street there from the sounds of it.

 

We do here too. I think it's only in the major cities they really crack down on it. I don't know that for certain, as I haven't been everywhere, but most people ignore it all the places I've been.

ETA: Except on highways (interstates) - because here we call that suicide.

 

In my part of the US, a crosswalk is anywhere that the street is marked for pedestrians. I don't know for sure if that's the legal definition, but it's common usage.