Us vs uk spellings

Discussion in 'Revision and Editing' started by Tenderiser, Sep 10, 2015.

  1. Tenderiser

    Tenderiser Not a man or BayView

    Joined:
    Aug 12, 2015
    Messages:
    7,471
    Likes Received:
    10,216
    Location:
    London, UK
    I read and watch so many books/TV shows/films set in the US that I don't notice most Americanisms. Maybe I'm patronising (pat as in cat, not pate as in fate :D)Americans by thinking they notice Britishisms.
     
    Sack-a-Doo! and Sifunkle like this.
  2. matwoolf

    matwoolf Banned Contributor

    Joined:
    Mar 21, 2012
    Messages:
    6,631
    Likes Received:
    10,135
    Location:
    Yorkshire
    Worms under soil agonise over the climate conditions upon Saturn
     
    jannert likes this.
  3. matwoolf

    matwoolf Banned Contributor

    Joined:
    Mar 21, 2012
    Messages:
    6,631
    Likes Received:
    10,135
    Location:
    Yorkshire
    Wrong thread, Saturn thread, other forum
     
    jannert likes this.
  4. AlcoholicWolf

    AlcoholicWolf Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 30, 2013
    Messages:
    267
    Likes Received:
    142
    Location:
    Moldova
    Maybe Americans just like to make a bigger deal of things than Europeans
     
  5. Cave Troll

    Cave Troll It's Coffee O'clock everywhere. Contributor

    Joined:
    Aug 8, 2015
    Messages:
    17,922
    Likes Received:
    27,173
    Location:
    Where cushions are comfy, and straps hold firm.
    I think some Americans are actually just jealous, cause we stole the language and screwed it up. Not to mention we are the only country that calls football, soccer. And our football is a weird form of rugby with lots of padding. Schedule is a tough one to really figure if it should be shh- and not sk- when saying it. The rest is the same just not the beginning as a difference in English and American pronunciation of schedule. :D
     
    jannert likes this.
  6. ChickenFreak

    ChickenFreak Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Mar 9, 2010
    Messages:
    15,262
    Likes Received:
    13,084
    Well, I'm not young, but I think that as long as the voice is English rather than American, the reader would assume that the use of the word is further Englishness.
     
    Tenderiser likes this.
  7. AlcoholicWolf

    AlcoholicWolf Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 30, 2013
    Messages:
    267
    Likes Received:
    142
    Location:
    Moldova
    Ha, my radio tutor got very angry with me when I used the "sk" pronunciation for schedule on my recordings, because we're supposed to use received pronunciation. Yet with the media being so US-centric, it's difficult not to be influenced by US pronunciation. Well I had it spanked out of me.
     
    Cave Troll likes this.
  8. OurJud

    OurJud Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    May 21, 2009
    Messages:
    9,502
    Likes Received:
    9,758
    Location:
    England
    In an episode of Friends, Rachel says 'Semi-private' and pronounces it Semi, as in Lemmy, and not the usual American Sem-eye.
     
  9. outsider

    outsider Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2012
    Messages:
    997
    Likes Received:
    641
    Location:
    Glasgow, Scotland
    Aluminium is another good one. Aloo-minum as opposed to the British (for British, read correct;)) pronunciation Al-yu-min-ee-um
    The nuances of language. . .
     
  10. Tenderiser

    Tenderiser Not a man or BayView

    Joined:
    Aug 12, 2015
    Messages:
    7,471
    Likes Received:
    10,216
    Location:
    London, UK
    Aluminum was what the founder/discoverer/whateverer of the element called it. It was changed to -ium to fit in with the other elements in that group. So both are correct!
     
  11. outsider

    outsider Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2012
    Messages:
    997
    Likes Received:
    641
    Location:
    Glasgow, Scotland
    Pah! Watch your arse doesn't get splinters from sitting firmly astride that fence.
     
  12. Tenderiser

    Tenderiser Not a man or BayView

    Joined:
    Aug 12, 2015
    Messages:
    7,471
    Likes Received:
    10,216
    Location:
    London, UK
    :supercheeky:
     
    Sifunkle and outsider like this.
  13. AlcoholicWolf

    AlcoholicWolf Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 30, 2013
    Messages:
    267
    Likes Received:
    142
    Location:
    Moldova
    I think kids in British schools have to use the American periodic table now, or risk losing marks. Sulphur becomes sulfur... well, the bad schools, maybe.
     
  14. outsider

    outsider Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2012
    Messages:
    997
    Likes Received:
    641
    Location:
    Glasgow, Scotland
    Ahem, it's the full-stopic table where I'm from. :D
     
    Sifunkle, BrianIff and Tenderiser like this.
  15. Aled James Taylor

    Aled James Taylor Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Sep 7, 2013
    Messages:
    1,008
    Likes Received:
    743
    Location:
    UK
    A British term that may be problematic in the US is 'car park', as some in the US don't know what this is and ask, 'is that the same as parking lot?'
     
    Tenderiser likes this.
  16. Tenderiser

    Tenderiser Not a man or BayView

    Joined:
    Aug 12, 2015
    Messages:
    7,471
    Likes Received:
    10,216
    Location:
    London, UK
    Ooh, thank you. I have a couple of mentions of car parks and I hadn't thought of that.
     
  17. matwoolf

    matwoolf Banned Contributor

    Joined:
    Mar 21, 2012
    Messages:
    6,631
    Likes Received:
    10,135
    Location:
    Yorkshire
    After the war a couple of spivs noticed - down in bombed-out out London that people left their motor cars unattended on bomb sites. The spivs placed a barrier over a bomb site, charged people to leave their vehicles - they called it NCP.

    True story, two of the richest men in Britain.
     
    BrianIff likes this.
  18. OurJud

    OurJud Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    May 21, 2009
    Messages:
    9,502
    Likes Received:
    9,758
    Location:
    England
    I already mentioned that one on that last page.

    And in any case I still maintain it's not your job to change these things. I'm not even sure an editor / publisher would either, as it makes no sense.

    When we read American novels, set in America with a cast of Americans, do we expect to see 'pavement' instead of 'sidewalk'? 'Boot' instead of 'trunk'? 'Mobile' instead of 'cell'? No, we don't, so why should it be any different when reversed?
     
    Last edited: Sep 10, 2015
  19. Tenderiser

    Tenderiser Not a man or BayView

    Joined:
    Aug 12, 2015
    Messages:
    7,471
    Likes Received:
    10,216
    Location:
    London, UK
    Well there's so much useful stuff in your posts that you can't possibly expect me to remember it all!
     
  20. OurJud

    OurJud Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    May 21, 2009
    Messages:
    9,502
    Likes Received:
    9,758
    Location:
    England
    Rick, shut up, or I'll tell everybody in this room that you've got an iron-on cartoon worm on the front of your Y-fronts that says 'Girl-bait'!
     
    Tenderiser likes this.
  21. ManOrAstroMan

    ManOrAstroMan Magical Space Detective Contributor

    Joined:
    May 8, 2012
    Messages:
    808
    Likes Received:
    349
    Location:
    Missouri
    I think, for the most part, you're safe with Englishisms. Thanks to Doctor Who, Sherlock, Downton Abbey, and other imports, American audiences are exposed to a lot of UK phrases. What used to be the domain of Monty Python nerds has become pretty much mainstream. And maybe I'm overestimating folks, but even words which haven't been explicitly defined can usually be understood in context.
     
  22. jannert

    jannert Retired Mod Supporter Contributor

    Joined:
    Mar 7, 2013
    Messages:
    17,674
    Likes Received:
    19,889
    Location:
    Scotland
    I had to bust my brain to remember how we used to refer to this garment in the USA. I've been in the UK for nearly 30 years, so things get mixed up a bit.

    While we certainly will know what 'trousers' are, we always called them pants. You could have work pants, dress pants, painter's pants, etc. You're told to 'pull up your pants and tuck in your shirt.' If you were heading off to buy new ones, you'd probably say 'I need a new pair of pants,' or 'better take an extra pair of pants.' Or you could ask somebody 'do you have a pair of pants to wear to that party?' A 'pair of pants' is a common phrase, but it always means just one 'pair.'

    The revolution in the 60s that allowed women to wear pants on formal occasions with a matching jacket referred to them as pants suits. However, a guy just wears a suit.

    The underwear was referred to as 'underpants.' If people are trying to be coy about it, they'd be called 'panties' if they are referring to the women's version. Underpants is a term that works for both sexes, unless you are referring to a particular style—Y-fronts, boxers, etc. Never 'drawers' in modern times, although that was what they were referred to in Victorian times.

    An American certainly would never call them knickers. Knickers in the USA are knee-length pants with a cuff that are worn as an outer garment by both sexes. Not actually something that's worn a lot these days, but they were popular for certain activities like bike riding, etc, in the first half of the 20th century. Hillwalkers wear these in the UK, but I don't remember if they were worn for this purpose in the USA.
     
    Tenderiser likes this.
  23. Tenderiser

    Tenderiser Not a man or BayView

    Joined:
    Aug 12, 2015
    Messages:
    7,471
    Likes Received:
    10,216
    Location:
    London, UK
    This is another one that's been tripping me up. I hate "knickers" because it makes me think of little girls - I don't know any adult women who talk about their knickers. But "panties" is SO American. "Underpants", to me, is male underwear only. I've been using "underwear" for knickers/panties even though that isn't quite right.
     
    Cave Troll likes this.
  24. outsider

    outsider Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2012
    Messages:
    997
    Likes Received:
    641
    Location:
    Glasgow, Scotland
    What kind of story are you writing that requires such clear and distinct definitions of pants, under or otherwise?
     
  25. uncephalized

    uncephalized Active Member

    Joined:
    Mar 11, 2015
    Messages:
    111
    Likes Received:
    59
    Semee vs semeye for semi is more of a regional/individual thing here in the States. Like (n)eyether vs (n)eether for (n)either.

    Unless you're talking about a tractor-trailer truck, in which case it is always 'semeye'.
     
    ChickenFreak and OurJud like this.

Share This Page

  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
    Dismiss Notice