(no subject)

[doyle]

Hmm. Looking through some old BBF discussion and I saw this comment by Gyrus (whose LJ handle I forget, sorry):

(For example, I recently read a fic in which something bad happens and Giles tries to tell Buffy that there was no way she could have anticipated it. She replies, "But I should've done!" That just looks weird to a Yank like me.)

I'm sure I'm guilty of using that myself. Why's it wrong? Should it be 'shoulda' instead of should've?

...any other glaring errors any of you have noticed non-Americans making? Because god knows I could go on for pages in obsessive Brit-picking of both Harry Potter fics and Buffy fics set in England (the language thing I get, but some of the cultural stuff, the 'my character's British so they've never heard of ___' : we do have pizzas and action movies and strange flavours of chips/crisps in Britain and Ireland, I promise you)

Comments

[rainkatt.livejournal.com]

I don't know that you've ever done this, but I've recently run into "parking up" and "car park" in several fics. No. We park, and we do it in parking lots.

I have a thing about "lounge" which I gather means what we call "living room." As a friend of mine once said, the only lounges in this country serve drinks...

And the ensuite bath just doesn't happen where I live, either... Master bath, yes.

I foolishly didn't check the other huge number of comments, so you've already heard this, I'm sure.

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

No, this is all good. I've come across the opposite problem of stumbling across parking lots in British fandom fic. Never heard of 'parking up'; wonder if that's a regional expression?

[rainkatt.livejournal.com]

I don't know, but I ran into it a couple of times. Of course, now I can't remember where...

I never know whether to comment on this stuff when I find it. Is it something that most people would like to have pointed out? Because how would you know, otherwise... or should I just assume that if it's been beta'd, the person really isn't interested?

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

In my case, I definitely need stuff like that pointing out. OTOH I saw a fic set in England that mentioned something about someone 'slimming down to a size 6' - that's physically unlikely. Size 6 is very small, unless the person was tiny to begin with they'd have trouble getting down to that size. A 10 or a 12, maybe. The writer obviously didn't know that American and English dress sizes are different, but I didn't think it was worth pointing out since the fic was already posted.

[txvoodoo.livejournal.com]

And then again, in terms of how big (or not) the Buffy actresses are? It's within reason. SMG is probably smaller a size 0, US sizes, which is a British 4. I happened to see one of her costumes at a con, and the waist was about normal-human thigh-sized. This is becoming more common - years ago, you'd have searched high and low to find a size 0 or 2, now they're widely available. (Not that I ever need them!)

Here's a page that lists British and US size equivalents:
http://www.fashion-411.com/Size_Conversions.htm

[thisficklemob.livejournal.com]

Well, part of this is that the American sizes themselves have been getting larger. Especially in the last 20 years... what used to be a 16 is now a 12. People say, oh, Marilyn Monroe was a 12-14 (talking about how beauty standards have become so stick-figure since the 1950s). I'm all in favor of pointing that out, but what was a 12-14 then is probably an 8-10 now.

They say the resizing is for vanity... I say, if the store only carries up to 14, I want to be a 14. Not because I'm vain, but because I wish to purchase clothes. They can call my size whatever they want, as long as they carry it. ;)

Not that Hollywood isn't too damn thin... but that's part of it.

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

She must be so tiny! I've never even seen a size 4 outfit.

'parking up'

[roseveare.livejournal.com]

I'd use it, and maybe have. I'm from Yorkshire. But it's also true that I'll collect, and use, dialect I happen to come across, especially from character voices I write - so much so I lose track.

[desoto-hia873.livejournal.com]

Canada here! Yes to most of what you said, except that we use 'ensuite bath' here sometimes. Not that anyone is likely to write a Canadian Slayer fic, but I guess you never know...

[rainkatt.livejournal.com]

I think a Canadian slayer fic would be cool! After all, there are slayers all over now, right? And certainly some of the group could be traveling in Canada, looking for more slayers, there must be a hellmouth somewhere... I vote for Revelstoke (is that what it's called?), although I've been told it's quite nice now, as opposed to when I saw it right after the highway went through.

[desoto-hia873.livejournal.com]

Still waiting to see what my assignment will be in thenyxie's Tales of the Slayers Ficathon - there's a small chance someone could ask for a Canadian slayer. Revelstoke would be a lovely setting, but I've never been there (it's in British Columbia) - I'm in central Canada now, though my family hails originally from the east. Hmm... a Newfoundland Slayer. Now I bet that hasn't been done!