Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Off Topic Some More Interesting Differences

This is 100% meant to demonstrate my interest - no intention to start a right versus wrong debate.

I've been re-reading my Harry Potter books in preparation of this Friday's release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (/me does a little happy dance) and I've noticed some more differences between UK and US English.

Specifically, I've noticed that US English tends to assign the definite article "the" to specific references of time whereas UK English does not. So you'd see:

UK way: Clark knew in future he would make sure no one could see him before he spun into the suit.

US way: Clark knew in the future he would make sure no one could see him before he spun into the suit.

AND

UK way: Lois awoke next morning wondering if she had dreamed that Clark had shown up at her apartment with a red cape sticking out of the back of his jacket.

US way: Lois awoke the next morning wondering if she had dreamed that Clark had shown up at her apartment with a red cape sticking out of the back of his jacket.

Another thing I've noticed is the UK teasing form of "ickle". As in:

Lois sneered at Clark. "What, is the ickle farm boy afraid of the big bad taxi cab?"

I'd always thought ickle was a different spelling/pronunciation of 'ittle which would be baby-talk for little but apparently it's not. So, UK folks, what does ickle mean?

There were some other things I noticed but of course are eluding me now. I'll come back with more when I remember them.

Lynn

Ooh! Glad you brought this up, Lynn.

I was out of reading for my trek back across the Atlantic, having finished the stories I had printed and Harry Potter 4, so I splurged on a book before I left. (Books in English are expensive!!!! 12 Euro for a little paperback ) I ended up getting a fluff book (chick lit ) by an Irish author. One thing has been niggling at me, but not really because I don't understand it. It's just different.

Irish version: Will I take down your name and phone number?

American version: Can I take down your name and phone number?

Irish version: Will I start the coffee now for us?

American version: Shall I start the coffee now for us?

I guess I'm only curious to know if this is solely an Irish thing, or is it a UK thing, too? (Yeah, I know *part* of Ireland is part of the UK, but this author is from Dublin. )

I'm also wondering what "ickle" means.

Sara (who had to actually stop and think whether "got" or "gotten" was correct while writing last night :rolleyes: )

Well, the first thing in response to Sara is that Irish people don't really use 'will' grammatically. We use it when we should use 'shall'. We use it when a completely different verb would be more appropriate. But that's just being Irish. We have a lot of other verbal idiosyncracies too - just read Racing the Moon some time!

But that's just vernacular, as opposed to standard English. Just as 'anyways' is a regional colloqualism in American English: people know it's ungrammatical, but they say it anyway. There are all sorts of regional variations on English, throughout England, Ireland, Scotland etc, all of which would instantly peg you as a native of a certain country or region. If I were to say 'I'm just after having my dinner', at least four million people would immediately know that I'm Irish.

As for 'ickle', I always thought it was a 'baby-talk' version of 'little'.

And with the use of definite article or not, Lynn, there are lots more:

UK: She's in hospital/I took him to hospital/We're visiting them in hospital.

US: She's in the hospital/I took him to the hospital/We're visiting them in the hospital.

And Sara picked out another tiny difference when she was reading something I'm writing exclusively in UK English (ie not adapting my writing for Lois and Clark) - stopped at traffic lights, not stopped at a traffic light. I think she probably noticed a lot more than that (notes v bills, for example ) but that one springs to mind.

Sure, I'm just practiced in three different versions of English, amn't I?


Wendy

Good to know, Wendy, thanks!

As for the "I'm just after having my dinner", I wasn't sure *exactly* what it meant. I thought it could either mean that she's just finished, or that she's looking to *get* dinner. Wendy informed me that it means she's just eaten dinner. Go figure. <g>

And while we're discussing differences (if Lynn doesn't mind me butting in on her thread a bit ), anyone else have unique expressions like the example Wendy gave?

Sara

Well, it always has been for this UKer. Who says it isn't? JK?

LabRat

In Harry Potter and The Order Of The Phoenix (which is the only one I have in English), we are informed that Petunia calls her 15-year-old son Dudley, "Ickle Diddykins". (Yep, she thinks he's the best and cutest boy in the world.)

Interesting thread! (Although it's hard to keep up with all these differences...)

See ya,
AnnaBtG.

I can see Petunia doing that, and not being mean about it. After all, I still call my 3 year old 20 pound cat my cute widdle kitten. *shrug* But when Fred and George said "ickle Ronnikins".. yeah, that's being mean about it.

Oh, sorry. I think I mis-spoke. Actually, no one said ickle wasn't just a form of 'ittle. I just thought perhaps it meant something different. Apparently my first assumption was correct.

This morning I remembered another thing. I don't know what this is called, but I've noticed that UK English adds the word done when US English leaves it off. Best way I can explain is by example:

UK way:

"Clark," Lois said, "you should have spoken to me before you submitted our story to Perry."

"I would have done," he replied, "but you were busy macking Dan Scardino in the broom closet."

Immediately Clark wished he hadn't made that remark about Lois and Dan, because now she looked angry. He wouldn't have done, but after the grief she'd given him about Mason, he figured he owed her a few.

US way

"Clark," Lois said, "you should have spoken to me before you submitted our story to Perry."

"I would have," he replied, "but you were busy macking Dan Scardino in the broom closet."

Clark wished he hadn't made that remark about Lois and Dan, because now she looked angry. He wouldn't have, but after the grief she'd given him about Mason, he figured he owed her a few.

Funny thing the other night. Ken and I were watching the movie Timeline which features Scottish actor Gerard Butler. He said something, and Ken actually asked me where I thought he was from. The guy's Scottish brogue was so thick you could cut it with a butter knife, and I couldn't believe Ken couldn't figure out he was from Scotland. Ken told me he often has trouble discerning an Irish accent from a Scottish one from and English one. Completely baffles me!! They almost sound like different languages to my ear.


Lynn

I've really wanted to get hold (see, Wendy? you trained me out of "get ahold") of the British version of the Harry Potter books. I've generally found it fun to read books in British or Canadian English--the little differences make you feel like you're in a different country (albeit one that speaks the same language), and it's sort of disappointing that they changed the books for us Americans.

Most of the regional idiosyncrasies I know are of pronunciation, not word choice. But what about pocketbook? Around there, that means purse, like what a woman carries her keys, money, Kleenex, lockpicking supplies, etc., in. But I remember from chatting on the channel that other people consider pocketbook to be a wallet, a billfold, or a changepurse, something of that sort.

You know how you hear something you say all the time and it suddenly sounds very odd indeed? Had that moment yesterday, on the phone with Stuart. He'd been at a meeting and had said he'd call me to let me know when he was coming home. So practically the first thing I said to him was, "Is that you?"

Now, I wasn't asking him who he was. I was saying, "Is that you done with your meeting?" Around here, such questions are usually shortened to "Is that you?", leaving off the "done/finished'.

Now that my attention's been drawn to it, I'm curious to know if this is a UK-wide habit, let alone something you use in the US. Or just another regional UK variation.

LabRat

No, it's just you. *grin*

See now, Labrat, I would have phrased that "Are you finished?" or "Are you done?"

Lynn

Is there really that much that could be changed? Enough to justify a whole new version of the book?

See ya,
AnnaBtG. (who would never have thought there was a US version of Harry Potter, or any other UK book)

And then there's Minnesota English, where pop = soda and yes = ya sure, you betcha.

In MN, most people would use "can" or "may." You don't really hear people use "shall" very often, but I do see it in print a lot.

I would assume a pocketbook to be a wallet/billfold.

I wonder if I started reading Harry Potter 5 tonight, would I get done with it tomorrow night? It would at least keep me up 'til midnight.

This is interesting:
We would never say a simple "Is it you." because the done wouldn't be understood. Like the others said, it would be "So are you done yet?" or else "When you're done, stop by and get a quart of milk." The "stopping by" is understood to be the local grocery store.
I've mentioned before that I subscribe to Majesty magazine and that many US citizens have a particular fascination with royalty. One thing I notice constantly is the use of the word "scheme."
Such as in "the Prince's Scheme for Childhood Abuse." What this means is the Prince has a charity that raises and donates money to institutions that prevent and treat child abuse. In American English, "scheme" has a negative connotation. Criminals scheme, usually not to the victims benefit. So it sounds really odd to an American ear. What the phrase really sounds like is that the prince is planning to abuse children. Which obviously isn't true, or at least they wouldn't print it!

Artemis

People scheme in a bad way here to. But sometimes it can be good.

I wouldn't really be sure what a pocketbook was, and I'd probably guess at it being a little notebook. I'd be wrong

Please don't get me started on them re-writing the Harry Potter books. I grew up reading/watching/listening to lots of American English and Australian English. It didn't do me any harm, just made me more aware of different cultures and societies.

So I know what SATs are, and Proms and jocks and cooties...

Helga

Nah, Rat, 'Is that you?' is pure Scots, and possibly pure Glaswegian...

And, Roo, a scheme is simply a plan. The first definition on dictionary.com is A systematic plan of action: “Did you ever carry out your scheme of writing a series of sonnets embodying all the great epochs of art?”

As for 'pocketbook', isn't that a book which fits into your pocket?


Wendy

LOL, interesting topic!!! I've always had British English at school and for a long time I wrote behavior as behaviour or color as colour but when I started chatting online with Americans my English started changing too I wonder if sometimes I don't mix both in the same sentence though

Lol, Wendy I'd have guessed the same thing because here we have a word in Portuguese that means exactly that "livro de bolso" = pocket book, except that'd be two seperated words

BTW, how do you spell Portuguese? I noticed some Americans spelling it like Portugese. Is the "u" there a British thing too?

You all don't know how hard it is to have your teacher playing CDs with different accents and asking you to identify what they're saying. Wendy, Irish English sounds like Greek to me sometimes

Raquel (who loves FoLCDom because she can learn so many things everyday )

*thud!* They change the English in Harry Potter to suit the American market? You're kidding!

Honestly, if I were American, I think I'd be pretty indignant that the marketeers didn't think I'd be able to cope with a slightly different version of English. I'm sure nobody here would have a problem understanding it!

Yvonne
(hoping never to see a UK English version of John Steinbeck, Raymond Chandler, Jack Kerouac, etc )

Coming back to address Lynn's original theme. Yes, the differences between different forms of English are fascinating, and the even more fascinating question is why? How come, in the contexts you note, did we in the UK drop 'the' while you over in the US retained it? How come the US retained 'gotten' while we ditched it? And so on. Was there a conscious decision somewhere along the line to be different, either by the Brits or the Americans? Or was it due to a particular linguistic dogma espoused on one or other sides of the Atlantic? Or was it just a natural evolution from the mix of peoples in both lands?

Anyone got any answers?

Yvonne