I haven’t read this yet – sharing to read later – but as someone who’s grown up reading both British and American books, I know the difference, and it can be painful watching an author get it wrong.
Originally shared by Joanna Penn
#writingtips Word choice differences and spelling between US and UK characters. Are you getting it right?
What ho guv’nor?
Not good enough?
What ho guv’nor?
Not good enough?
What ho guv’nor?
Not good enough?
What ho guv’nor?
Not good enough?
What ho guv’nor?
Not good enough?
In New Zealand, we probably use more American phrases than they do in Britain – “chips” can mean either what the British call crisps or what the Americans call fries. We get British books from Britain and American books from America (whereas publishing contracts mean that Britain and America get their own editions of each other’s books a lot of the time), and we also get our TV from both places, so both versions of English are familiar. And we have our own linguistic quirks, of course.
I’m also married to an American, which makes me even more aware of the vocabulary and grammatical differences.
I try to keep my Gryphon Clerks novels vocabulary-neutral as much as possible, but use British/Commonwealth spelling and the occasional British term (like “flat” rather than “apartment”). I write Auckland Allies in New Zealand English, since it’s set here. In a possibly misguided attempt to appeal more to the US market, I use American spelling for the Hand of the Trickster books. But I always use double quotation marks for dialogue, everywhere.
In New Zealand, we probably use more American phrases than they do in Britain – “chips” can mean either what the British call crisps or what the Americans call fries. We get British books from Britain and American books from America (whereas publishing contracts mean that Britain and America get their own editions of each other’s books a lot of the time), and we also get our TV from both places, so both versions of English are familiar. And we have our own linguistic quirks, of course.
I’m also married to an American, which makes me even more aware of the vocabulary and grammatical differences.
I try to keep my Gryphon Clerks novels vocabulary-neutral as much as possible, but use British/Commonwealth spelling and the occasional British term (like “flat” rather than “apartment”). I write Auckland Allies in New Zealand English, since it’s set here. In a possibly misguided attempt to appeal more to the US market, I use American spelling for the Hand of the Trickster books. But I always use double quotation marks for dialogue, everywhere.
In New Zealand, we probably use more American phrases than they do in Britain – “chips” can mean either what the British call crisps or what the Americans call fries. We get British books from Britain and American books from America (whereas publishing contracts mean that Britain and America get their own editions of each other’s books a lot of the time), and we also get our TV from both places, so both versions of English are familiar. And we have our own linguistic quirks, of course.
I’m also married to an American, which makes me even more aware of the vocabulary and grammatical differences.
I try to keep my Gryphon Clerks novels vocabulary-neutral as much as possible, but use British/Commonwealth spelling and the occasional British term (like “flat” rather than “apartment”). I write Auckland Allies in New Zealand English, since it’s set here. In a possibly misguided attempt to appeal more to the US market, I use American spelling for the Hand of the Trickster books. But I always use double quotation marks for dialogue, everywhere.
In New Zealand, we probably use more American phrases than they do in Britain – “chips” can mean either what the British call crisps or what the Americans call fries. We get British books from Britain and American books from America (whereas publishing contracts mean that Britain and America get their own editions of each other’s books a lot of the time), and we also get our TV from both places, so both versions of English are familiar. And we have our own linguistic quirks, of course.
I’m also married to an American, which makes me even more aware of the vocabulary and grammatical differences.
I try to keep my Gryphon Clerks novels vocabulary-neutral as much as possible, but use British/Commonwealth spelling and the occasional British term (like “flat” rather than “apartment”). I write Auckland Allies in New Zealand English, since it’s set here. In a possibly misguided attempt to appeal more to the US market, I use American spelling for the Hand of the Trickster books. But I always use double quotation marks for dialogue, everywhere.
In New Zealand, we probably use more American phrases than they do in Britain – “chips” can mean either what the British call crisps or what the Americans call fries. We get British books from Britain and American books from America (whereas publishing contracts mean that Britain and America get their own editions of each other’s books a lot of the time), and we also get our TV from both places, so both versions of English are familiar. And we have our own linguistic quirks, of course.
I’m also married to an American, which makes me even more aware of the vocabulary and grammatical differences.
I try to keep my Gryphon Clerks novels vocabulary-neutral as much as possible, but use British/Commonwealth spelling and the occasional British term (like “flat” rather than “apartment”). I write Auckland Allies in New Zealand English, since it’s set here. In a possibly misguided attempt to appeal more to the US market, I use American spelling for the Hand of the Trickster books. But I always use double quotation marks for dialogue, everywhere.
Lason Strike, I know you’re not serious, but that would come across as both dated and stereotypical. Also mixing two class dialects, which are another whole dimension that’s a lot more important in Britain (but not as absent in the US as people like to believe). Then there are regional differences… It’s a whole ball of wax.
Basically, unless you have an extremely good ear for language, and probably even then, you shouldn’t attempt dialect, and if you do, you should check with a native speaker before publishing.
And very few people have a good ear for language, sadly.
Lason Strike, I know you’re not serious, but that would come across as both dated and stereotypical. Also mixing two class dialects, which are another whole dimension that’s a lot more important in Britain (but not as absent in the US as people like to believe). Then there are regional differences… It’s a whole ball of wax.
Basically, unless you have an extremely good ear for language, and probably even then, you shouldn’t attempt dialect, and if you do, you should check with a native speaker before publishing.
And very few people have a good ear for language, sadly.
Lason Strike, I know you’re not serious, but that would come across as both dated and stereotypical. Also mixing two class dialects, which are another whole dimension that’s a lot more important in Britain (but not as absent in the US as people like to believe). Then there are regional differences… It’s a whole ball of wax.
Basically, unless you have an extremely good ear for language, and probably even then, you shouldn’t attempt dialect, and if you do, you should check with a native speaker before publishing.
And very few people have a good ear for language, sadly.
Lason Strike, I know you’re not serious, but that would come across as both dated and stereotypical. Also mixing two class dialects, which are another whole dimension that’s a lot more important in Britain (but not as absent in the US as people like to believe). Then there are regional differences… It’s a whole ball of wax.
Basically, unless you have an extremely good ear for language, and probably even then, you shouldn’t attempt dialect, and if you do, you should check with a native speaker before publishing.
And very few people have a good ear for language, sadly.
Lason Strike, I know you’re not serious, but that would come across as both dated and stereotypical. Also mixing two class dialects, which are another whole dimension that’s a lot more important in Britain (but not as absent in the US as people like to believe). Then there are regional differences… It’s a whole ball of wax.
Basically, unless you have an extremely good ear for language, and probably even then, you shouldn’t attempt dialect, and if you do, you should check with a native speaker before publishing.
And very few people have a good ear for language, sadly.
“It’s a whole ball of wax.”
Is that like a jigger of crumpets?
Or more like a hat fulla’ skeeters? 🙂
“It’s a whole ball of wax.”
Is that like a jigger of crumpets?
Or more like a hat fulla’ skeeters? 🙂
“It’s a whole ball of wax.”
Is that like a jigger of crumpets?
Or more like a hat fulla’ skeeters? 🙂
“It’s a whole ball of wax.”
Is that like a jigger of crumpets?
Or more like a hat fulla’ skeeters? 🙂
“It’s a whole ball of wax.”
Is that like a jigger of crumpets?
Or more like a hat fulla’ skeeters? 🙂
Can of worms?
Can of worms?
Can of worms?
Can of worms?
Can of worms?
I commented on the original post but I’ll say here that while I write heightened British English I still get it checked by a US editor to ensure there’s no major confusions in what I’ve written.
I definitely don’t write language neutral.
I commented on the original post but I’ll say here that while I write heightened British English I still get it checked by a US editor to ensure there’s no major confusions in what I’ve written.
I definitely don’t write language neutral.
I commented on the original post but I’ll say here that while I write heightened British English I still get it checked by a US editor to ensure there’s no major confusions in what I’ve written.
I definitely don’t write language neutral.
I commented on the original post but I’ll say here that while I write heightened British English I still get it checked by a US editor to ensure there’s no major confusions in what I’ve written.
I definitely don’t write language neutral.
I commented on the original post but I’ll say here that while I write heightened British English I still get it checked by a US editor to ensure there’s no major confusions in what I’ve written.
I definitely don’t write language neutral.
These days, of course, it’s all confused anyway. My Scottish colleague with the Irish name, who went to university in Wales, used Cockney rhyming slang the other day. You couldn’t put that in a book; it would look like a mistake.
These days, of course, it’s all confused anyway. My Scottish colleague with the Irish name, who went to university in Wales, used Cockney rhyming slang the other day. You couldn’t put that in a book; it would look like a mistake.
These days, of course, it’s all confused anyway. My Scottish colleague with the Irish name, who went to university in Wales, used Cockney rhyming slang the other day. You couldn’t put that in a book; it would look like a mistake.
These days, of course, it’s all confused anyway. My Scottish colleague with the Irish name, who went to university in Wales, used Cockney rhyming slang the other day. You couldn’t put that in a book; it would look like a mistake.
These days, of course, it’s all confused anyway. My Scottish colleague with the Irish name, who went to university in Wales, used Cockney rhyming slang the other day. You couldn’t put that in a book; it would look like a mistake.
I really like Stephen King, but never quite forgave him for having a Brit say ‘airplane’ instead of ‘aeroplane’ in (I think) The Langoliers. A non-Brit might not even have noticed, but it threw me completely out of the book.
I really like Stephen King, but never quite forgave him for having a Brit say ‘airplane’ instead of ‘aeroplane’ in (I think) The Langoliers. A non-Brit might not even have noticed, but it threw me completely out of the book.
I really like Stephen King, but never quite forgave him for having a Brit say ‘airplane’ instead of ‘aeroplane’ in (I think) The Langoliers. A non-Brit might not even have noticed, but it threw me completely out of the book.
I really like Stephen King, but never quite forgave him for having a Brit say ‘airplane’ instead of ‘aeroplane’ in (I think) The Langoliers. A non-Brit might not even have noticed, but it threw me completely out of the book.
I really like Stephen King, but never quite forgave him for having a Brit say ‘airplane’ instead of ‘aeroplane’ in (I think) The Langoliers. A non-Brit might not even have noticed, but it threw me completely out of the book.
I felt similarly when Tim Powers kept using “off of” throughout the dialogue of the very British characters in his novel Declare, Fern Kali. I’ve since discovered that some Brits do say “off of,” but the ones he was depicting, I’m pretty sure, would not.
Romances and steampunk are especially bad for this kind of thing – Regency romances also frequently have modern phrases as well as Americanisms.
I felt similarly when Tim Powers kept using “off of” throughout the dialogue of the very British characters in his novel Declare, Fern Kali. I’ve since discovered that some Brits do say “off of,” but the ones he was depicting, I’m pretty sure, would not.
Romances and steampunk are especially bad for this kind of thing – Regency romances also frequently have modern phrases as well as Americanisms.
I felt similarly when Tim Powers kept using “off of” throughout the dialogue of the very British characters in his novel Declare, Fern Kali. I’ve since discovered that some Brits do say “off of,” but the ones he was depicting, I’m pretty sure, would not.
Romances and steampunk are especially bad for this kind of thing – Regency romances also frequently have modern phrases as well as Americanisms.
I felt similarly when Tim Powers kept using “off of” throughout the dialogue of the very British characters in his novel Declare, Fern Kali. I’ve since discovered that some Brits do say “off of,” but the ones he was depicting, I’m pretty sure, would not.
Romances and steampunk are especially bad for this kind of thing – Regency romances also frequently have modern phrases as well as Americanisms.
I felt similarly when Tim Powers kept using “off of” throughout the dialogue of the very British characters in his novel Declare, Fern Kali. I’ve since discovered that some Brits do say “off of,” but the ones he was depicting, I’m pretty sure, would not.
Romances and steampunk are especially bad for this kind of thing – Regency romances also frequently have modern phrases as well as Americanisms.
The only place I can picture ‘off of’ is when describing a TV actor or presenter: “her, off of the telly”.
On the steampunk front, I really enjoyed Gail Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate series, but I wince at the Americanisms – particularly ‘ladybug’ instead of ‘ladybird’. I think it would bother me less if she didn’t make a big thing about being “the daughter of an expat” to try to claim authenticity for her book set in the UK.
The only place I can picture ‘off of’ is when describing a TV actor or presenter: “her, off of the telly”.
On the steampunk front, I really enjoyed Gail Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate series, but I wince at the Americanisms – particularly ‘ladybug’ instead of ‘ladybird’. I think it would bother me less if she didn’t make a big thing about being “the daughter of an expat” to try to claim authenticity for her book set in the UK.
The only place I can picture ‘off of’ is when describing a TV actor or presenter: “her, off of the telly”.
On the steampunk front, I really enjoyed Gail Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate series, but I wince at the Americanisms – particularly ‘ladybug’ instead of ‘ladybird’. I think it would bother me less if she didn’t make a big thing about being “the daughter of an expat” to try to claim authenticity for her book set in the UK.
The only place I can picture ‘off of’ is when describing a TV actor or presenter: “her, off of the telly”.
On the steampunk front, I really enjoyed Gail Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate series, but I wince at the Americanisms – particularly ‘ladybug’ instead of ‘ladybird’. I think it would bother me less if she didn’t make a big thing about being “the daughter of an expat” to try to claim authenticity for her book set in the UK.
The only place I can picture ‘off of’ is when describing a TV actor or presenter: “her, off of the telly”.
On the steampunk front, I really enjoyed Gail Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate series, but I wince at the Americanisms – particularly ‘ladybug’ instead of ‘ladybird’. I think it would bother me less if she didn’t make a big thing about being “the daughter of an expat” to try to claim authenticity for her book set in the UK.
My wife reads a lot of Regency mystery. There is frequent screaming.
It’s not just the language, it’s the culture. US writers seldom have any understanding of class and how it pervades British culture.
My wife reads a lot of Regency mystery. There is frequent screaming.
It’s not just the language, it’s the culture. US writers seldom have any understanding of class and how it pervades British culture.
My wife reads a lot of Regency mystery. There is frequent screaming.
It’s not just the language, it’s the culture. US writers seldom have any understanding of class and how it pervades British culture.
My wife reads a lot of Regency mystery. There is frequent screaming.
It’s not just the language, it’s the culture. US writers seldom have any understanding of class and how it pervades British culture.
My wife reads a lot of Regency mystery. There is frequent screaming.
It’s not just the language, it’s the culture. US writers seldom have any understanding of class and how it pervades British culture.
I had a tricky moment in one Gryphon Clerks novel where I needed to refer to the pedestrian area along the side of a road. Should I use (AmE) “sidewalk,” (BrE) “pavement,” or (NZE) “footpath”? (One of the rare cases where we have our own word for a common object that isn’t the same as the British or American word for it.)
I ended up writing around it.
I had a tricky moment in one Gryphon Clerks novel where I needed to refer to the pedestrian area along the side of a road. Should I use (AmE) “sidewalk,” (BrE) “pavement,” or (NZE) “footpath”? (One of the rare cases where we have our own word for a common object that isn’t the same as the British or American word for it.)
I ended up writing around it.
I had a tricky moment in one Gryphon Clerks novel where I needed to refer to the pedestrian area along the side of a road. Should I use (AmE) “sidewalk,” (BrE) “pavement,” or (NZE) “footpath”? (One of the rare cases where we have our own word for a common object that isn’t the same as the British or American word for it.)
I ended up writing around it.
I had a tricky moment in one Gryphon Clerks novel where I needed to refer to the pedestrian area along the side of a road. Should I use (AmE) “sidewalk,” (BrE) “pavement,” or (NZE) “footpath”? (One of the rare cases where we have our own word for a common object that isn’t the same as the British or American word for it.)
I ended up writing around it.
I had a tricky moment in one Gryphon Clerks novel where I needed to refer to the pedestrian area along the side of a road. Should I use (AmE) “sidewalk,” (BrE) “pavement,” or (NZE) “footpath”? (One of the rare cases where we have our own word for a common object that isn’t the same as the British or American word for it.)
I ended up writing around it.
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