Hello, I am in the process of writing a Harry Potter story and I am looking for a slang phrase for being played or manipulated. I am an American and I'm hoping to avoid as many americanisms as possible. My context is thus: one character is telling another character that they've been manipulated. In the US a slang phrase would be "you've been played ( Read more... )

Hello all ( Read more... )

I just had Harry say "Can the attitude?" (Meaning more explicitly "Are you saying you want me to calm down and not act that way anymore?")

And realized, you know, that's probably really American. I could replace that with:

"Drop the attitude?"

"Ditch the attitude?"

"Boot the attitude?"

or whatever else actually sounds British.

I look forward to ( Read more... )

Ew, yeah.  I've got a bit of a gross question.  I'm writing a scene with Harry and a 15-year-old Teddy just being silly.  Teddy's embarrassed because people overheard him signing out loud.  (He was wearing an 'mPod,' which is a magical version of an iPod created by George Weasley, and you know how easy it is to forget yourself and start singing ( Read more... )

Would a British person use the idiom 'in spades' to describe taking/collecting what's due them and taking it to perhaps to a point of excess?

If not, what would be an appropriate way to phrase it?

I'm working on a Harry Potter story and one of my friends objected to the lines

“Oh,Harry,” Hermione sighed.

“I know, low blow, but she was driving me mental...

She said "low blow" is too American for Harry to use.  Is she right?  If so, what is an acceptable British alternative?  She suggested "Not Cricket," but that doesn't feel Harryish to me ( Read more... )

( Questions about Christmas and Christmas-related things.* )

1. I know the 40s are before pretty much everyone's (everyone everyone's?) time, but if I have Tom or one of his friends thinking about oral sex, does "[Adam] fucked [Bruce's] mouth" feel glaringly anachronistic? OED says "fucked" is definitely okay for this period, but I'm not sure if it's okay in this context. If it does feel anachronistic, what ( Read more... )

Is the word "jock" a total Americanism? Is there a better term for a Quidditch/sports obsessed person ( Read more... )

So, Ron is cheerfully chortling about how wonderful it would have been had Harry, when he was ill a few months ago, tossed his cookies all over Draco Malfoy.

But, do Brits toss their cookies? Do they Blow chunks? I know they sometimes puke, but I want it to be a colorful and funny Ronism.

So, colorful, funny phrases for "Vomit," as a verb?