(no subject)

[doyle]

Checking out a post on hp_essays about Britpicking - because some of the Harry Potter fic I was reading last night was fantastic but had an Americanism every couple of paragraphs1, and dumpsters and diapers2 and candy stores in a British setting just bring me to a screeching halt - and am I understanding the comments right? The books were translated into American English? :boggles: I knew the title of Philosopher's Stone was changed but assumed the text had been left alone. That just seems odd.

1: Yep, aware of the irony in this since I'm plenty guilty of sticking Briticisms into Buffy fic.

2. Uh, the nappies/diapers were on a baby, they weren't the kind for grown-ups.

Comments

[herself_nyc]

Yes, the whole thing was rewritten in American English. I remember hearing about this a couple of years ago. It is sickening--how can American kids learn about other cultures/countries if they're coddled like that? And these differences are so much to learn and know!

[jidabug.livejournal.com]

The books were translated into American English?

Yup. I bought the first three books while in NZ, then read the US version of "Goblet of Fire" and was completely weirded out by the Americanisms. I've since bought GoF and OotP from Amazon UK so my whole set would be "correct." 8^)

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

My housemate marymac has a little American cousin who was horrified to realize the title had been changed and now insists on getting the British versions.

But yeah, it seems really strange to translate the books - when I was a twelve-year-old girl in rural Ireland a lot of references in, say, Judy Blume's books were lost on me, but they were never translated into British English.

[paratti.livejournal.com]

::is gobsmacked::

[rainkatt.livejournal.com]

This is done a lot, which annoys me.

[thebratqueen.livejournal.com]

Wait - there's no candy stores in England?

[sangpassionne.livejournal.com]

That is revolting. It's undermining a British institution. Next thing you'll be telling me they've translated the Famous Five too.

[fallingfortruth.livejournal.com]

I have only read the american versions, but being the rabid angliophile that I am, sort of mentally retranslate it into the british.

You know you're more than a little gone when your sister complains that she can't find any pants and you almost aspirate your tea.

This has actually happened to me, sadly.

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

Sure, but they're called sweet shops *g*

[wickedprincess3.livejournal.com]

Fuck it, now I have to buy the British versions. ARG I knew they changed the spellings (color instead of colour and what not) but I didn't realize it was changed more than that.
*counts out change*

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

I'm still sulking about the British editions of the Famous Five being censored/updated to remove 'terribly queer!' and so on...

[thebratqueen.livejournal.com]

Ohhhh, okay. That makes much more sense then.

Phew. I was starting to get worried about my fantasy home away from home ;)

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

Bwah!

[debvel.livejournal.com]

I've read both versions of the first book. I don't remember all the changes, but it was mostly just a word here or there. "Revising" vs. "Studying", etc.

Google'd a link - a list of what was changed in books 1-4 (http://www.uta.fi/FAST/US1/REF/potter.html).

Last night I was trying to figure out if I can get the UK versions from amazon.com, and apparently the answer is "no". I'm thinking of ordering them from amazon.ca.

[sangpassionne.livejournal.com]

They did? Scandalous. Plus totally appropriate to Julian and George.

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

:D!! And now I want to read about George's fabulously grown-up self at uni, picking up lots of hot girls who she hides when her pious cousin Anne comes round for tea.

:boggles some more:

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

Okay, I get changing comprehensive to public school - which means the exact opposite in British English - but they changed 'mummy' to 'mommy'?

That's on par with someone having Buffy and Dawn call Joyce 'mum' in Buffy fic. The books are set in England, for god's sake!

[jedi-penguin.livejournal.com]

I didn't realize that either. That irks me!

Did JKR approve the changes at all? How much of her stuff do we Yanks actually get?

*scuffles foot* That's not fair!

[scanky-chops.livejournal.com]

I don't get why they've changed things around, 'cos like you said the books ARE English. How would the Americans like it if we started doing things the other way around?

I mean, calling [American] football 'pansy's rugby' isn't very nice is it?

[flyingtapes.livejournal.com]

I always mentally correct the Americanisms in the books--sweater with jumper, so on. It wasn't a big deal to me because publishers do this all the time: change a novel for an American audience versus British. It's not unusual. I mean, for me as an adult it's disappointing, but not a huge thing.

[sideofzen.livejournal.com]

http://www.uta.fi/FAST/US1/REF/potter.html

This website has a fairly comprehensive list of the edits between the UK and US versions.

[sangpassionne.livejournal.com]

God, yes. She was totally my hero growing up. :-D

[gloss]

This always reminds me of an opposite case, where the British publisher of L'engle's A Wrinkle in Time wanted to change the first line - "It was a dark and stormy night" - to add "...in a small Connecticut town".

Anyway. I *still* crave Brit details in my reading; how the hell would I know about Y-fronts and Marks & Sparks and comprehensives otherwise?

Also, rather than shelling out for the British editions, interested North American readers should just get the Canadian editions from Indigo or Amazon; they're published by Raincoast, far more affordable, and lack Yank-translation as well as that crappy cover art. ;}

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

Bwahaha! Now, just because they have ton wear body armour and have a rest every ten seconds... :ducks out of the way of Americans on f-list:

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

Really? I'm wondering now if that's ever done with American novels in the UK - I'd assume not since we're so steeped in American TV and so on.