divided by a common et cetera

[tempestsarekind]

So I picked up a novel at the bookstore today; I've forgotten the title already but it had something to do with vintage clothing. Anyway, it's supposed to be set in London, but on the first page a character talks about someone's bangs rather than her fringe, and it was like a needle scratching a record. The author is English, so I suspect that this

Comments

[teliesin]

It is annoying isn't it. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone etc. etc.
How are we supposed to learn things if they change the words. I could see maybe in 1920 before the internet when it might have been harder to find information but today?
Wonder if american novels get translated to Brit english when published there.

[tempestsarekind]

It is peculiar that the practice persists (there is perhaps too much alliteration in that sentence). There are easy ways to find out what unfamiliar slang means - and that's part of the fun! The one time I've heard of the practice being useful was with Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, butthat's because he beefed up the descriptions of London in the US edition as well. Though I still don't think they really needed to change "cashpoint" to "ATM."

I suspect US novels get the same treatment; I know that the UK edition of A Wrinkle in Time changed Meg's line about her braces, but that's an instance where the actual word means something else, and those changes seem a little more reasonable to me.

[tempestsarekind]

You know, I don't remember ever having trouble with tea and biscuits, even though I must have read some books as a kid that involved such things. Probably this means that I just substituted US-style biscuits (yum) in my head, because who *wouldn't* want to have those with tea? :) The thing I did always have trouble with was understanding why porridge was supposed to be so gross, because I ate oatmeal all the time!

Mmm, turkey delight. Beloved candy of millions. :) I don't think this bothered me, either - but I was pretty used to just *not getting stuff* in the books I read as a kid. I spent so much time reading that I encountered a lot of things in books before I saw them in real life.

[teliesin]

Perchance it is peculiar that the particular practice persists on purpose...

Someone stop me soon...

[tempestsarekind]

Hee!