Monica Fairview’s Post: Anglophiles Beware!
Many of you will have seen the media uproar that followed the “revelation” that Jane Austen didn’t know how to spell. My response to the whole uproar is very well expressed by Mark Twain, who unfortunately didn’t like Jane Austen (to say the least), but I won’t hold that against him: “I don’t give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way.”
The bottom line is that we have to remember that language is in a constant state of flux, and that the whole concept of standardized spelling only came up when Johnson published the first authoritative dictionary of the English language in 1744. Even so, the dictionary was not widely available as it was very expensive. It must have been very confusing, having spelt (spelled?) things one way all your life, to suddenly no longer be allowed to chuse (choose) how to spell your words just because someone came up with a dictionary.
The issue of different standards strikes a familiar chord for me because I have to deal with it constantly as an author who has one foot in the USA and the other in the UK. Going back and forth means switching between the two forms of English and struggling to remember the rules for each.
I can tell you, at times the randomness of it all seems totally mad (meaning insane).
For example, the British version of “The Other Mr Darcy” (or should it be single quotes according to British usage?) has no full stop (translation=period) after Mr. because that is the norm in British English. Now this may seem like a minor point (literally) until you are asked by your American editor (as I was for my story “Nothing Short of Fairyland”) to add a dot after each Mr.. I tried to do this the easy way by using the find/replace commands and ended up with dots all over the manuscript (called typescript in British), particularly after Mr.s.
It makes you wonder, doesn’t it, why these random rules get applied one side of the world and not the other? I can understand this happening in older forms of writing, but why does it still apply, for example, to newer forms of writing such e-mails? Why do the British have no comma after addressing someone in an e-mail:
Dear Mr Bennet
but Americans do?
Dear Mr. Bennet,
I like to make up my own reasons (to keep me sane). For example, in the days of typewriters, Americans could be more extravagant and use up more ink, whereas the British, following post-war frugal practices, rationed their punctuation whenever possible.
I’ve been talking about more subtle differences between the two languages. But Anglophones, beware! There are bigger pitfalls awaiting you if you try to switch between languages. This is particularly striking when it comes to everyday items like clothes, food and common objects.
Do Americans, for example, really still use blackboards in classrooms? My British-speaking daughter didn’t know what those were. Here teachers and pupils use whiteboards. British schoolchildren wear plimsolls or trainers for their PE so they can’t sneak up on anyone, and they rub out their mistakes with rubbers, not erasers. Oh, and by the way, they study Maths not Math, which I suppose means they get more of the subject. State schools are public schools in America and private schools are public schools in England. Go figure.
What about jumpers and cardigans? A jumper could be a pinafore or a sweater, depending where you live. A cardi is – well, a cardi – a jacket I suppose. A rain jacket is an anorak or mac. Tights are panty-hose (without the British-inspired dash) and in many schools they wear polo shirts for their uniform which don’t have roll-down collars and have nothing to do with turtles.
Crisps are chips in America, but British chips are French fries. Zucchini is courgette, squash is marrow, while eggplant may resemble eggs (???) but it’s really aubergine. And for those of you who are Louisiana residents out there, you may be chagrined to find that your gumbo is made with lady’s fingers.
In America you take the ramp off the freeway whereas in England you take the slip road (hopefully not slippery) of the dual carriageway. If you walk on the pavement in England that’s perfectly normal (sidewalk), but not in America, since it’s the middle of the road. In England a car with a hood is a convertible, whilst an American car’s hood is a bonnet (which makes you wonder about bonnet-dramas).
My favorite (favourite) of course is pants, as it seems all Americans like to walk around in their (male) underwear, particularly when they’re also wearing vests (another form of underwear).
It might have been fun to see Mr(.) Darcy in his pants and vest, though.
So when they tell me Jane Austen didn’t know how to spell, I can’t help but think: that’s the least of our problems, thank you very much, mate. I’m much more concerned whether what you think you understand in America bears any resemblance to what you think you understand this side of the pond, or vice versa. If that makes any sense at all.
To help me preserve my sanity, can you tell me some of the differences you’ve noticed between the two languages?
Monica Fairview
Author of THE OTHER MR DARCY, featuring flying sparks between Caroline Bingley and Darcy's charming American cousin and THE DARCY COUSINS, featuring defiance and misunderstandings as Darcy's sister Georgiana takes a few lessons from her fiesty American cousin about love and romance. My traditional Regency Romance, An Improper Suitor, has just been released on Kindle.
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30 Responses to Monica Fairview’s Post: Anglophiles Beware!
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Wonderful post, Monica. I love how you differentiate words between British English and American English in an interesting manner. I'm residing in Malaysia and we follow British English in school but in university days, my English has been mix with American English due to the numerous textbooks I use in my degree course. Now I strive to use British English when I can remember.
Monica,
What a great post! I know I should be able to think of lots of differences in our English words, but my blog tour is making me completely stupid, and all I can think to do is caution you against asking anyone in the US to lend you their 'rubber' for a moment. It serves a very different purpose here than it does on your side of the pond!
As far as spelling, I've noticed similar differences between the way Britains and Canadians spell certain words, vs the way we Americans spell them. 'Jewellry', for example, gave me a tough time, when I've been spelling it 'jewelry' my whole life.
Best,
Susan
Thanks for the amusing and educational post, Monica! Love the spelling differences! And some of them are outright scandalous!
I savor these differences. When I read a British novel, I love when I stumble upon a word or spelling that is either new or different. (Anorak was one.) I enjoy American differences as well. In NJ, where I grew up, we take our groceries home in bags. When I moved to TX, it was sacks. So the bagger was a sacker which I found hysterical as I pictured employees rampaging through the store/shop. All my co-workers used Dr. Pepper as a generic term for soda (East Coast) or pop (more middle of the country). In the US, we have a picnic. You have a picknick. But I believe that might be changing as well. Enjoyed your post very much.
Great post! I remember having an issue with one copyeditor who objected to the fact that I used British spellings but kept the period after Mr. My goal was to make the book feel English to American readers without it seeming foreign.
I moved to the American Midwest as a young adult, and had to learn to call a water fountain a bubbler and many other regionalisms.
Monica: This is fantastic! I love that Mark Twain quote and I'm thinking about placing it on my tombstone.
Thanks for a very, very funny post. I had no idea how different the grammar was between US and British english was.
Love this post, Monica. I thought a lot about the differences and did some research on it for my book (since I was creating Brits and Americans in conversation and misunderstanding). Wish I'd had your post back then!!
Great post, Monica! After having 4British and 4 South African,and 2 Latvian au pairs, you can guess how messed up my language is. Not surprising that there are many differences, tho, since the US was colonized before Samuel Johnson's dictionary. Similarly, the Cajun French spoken in Louisiana is not understandable by someone from France (we had a resident from France in my training program and she could communicate with the elderly Cajuns who did not speak English no better than I could).
BTW: My favourite English expression is "chuffed." I don't know of a single word in American that expresses and emotion so well!
When I was in the third grade, I used to get nicked in spelling for using the "our" ending in words like "colour" instead of "or." I don't remember reading a lot of British books in the 3rd grade. But, I grew up in North Idaho, maybe the tendency sluiced down from Canada.
Thanks, Monica.
Cindy — you're a woman after my own heart! It's so much fun exploring those differences!
Heather — yours will be a fascinating tombstone! But seriously, I do love Mark Twain and his clever sayings.
Abigail — so you know what I'm talking about. Huge sigh. I think regionalisms are a lot of fun. The thing is, when it's a new word, you just have to learn it. But when it's an old word and you think you know what it means, that's when it can get hairy (?).
Mary — thanks. I have the same feeling when I go back to classical novels and enjoy the way words used to be used in a different way.
Vera — now, now, let's not get naughty…
Susan — thanks for the warning. I'll avoid stationary of all kinds, just in case.
Luthien84 — difficult to make the transition, isn't it? Glad you enjoyed the post.
Great post, Monica! I find that when I am reading a lot of British literature, I tend to be in that mindset all the time and find my spelling to be more British than American.
I remember going to England when I was in high school and asked someone to use the bathroom. He politely told me he did not have a bathroom and that a restroom is called the loo. One more difference I remember is that we call the back of the car a trunk instead of a boot (which I tend to wear on my feet)!
Mary, growing up in Ohio we went grocery shopping with a shopping cart. In Georgia, one goes grocery shopping with a buggy (I always thought that is what one put newborns in).
Thanks for sharing! I will be looking forward to reading more differences.
Dr. Carey — I note your use of the full stop. I'm chuffed that you like "chuffed".
Susan Kaye — it does sound like Canadian/British spelling was common where you lived. Must have been very confusing for you as a child, not knowing that.
JakkiL — yes, "restroom" will certain earn you a few blank stares. I can see people thinking: "Why do you need a rest?" Speaking of buggies, those are called "prams" here, though "buggies" is used, too. I remember using "stroller" when I first arrived and people looked confused. Shopping carts, by the way, are called trollies.
We need to keep you on retainer to check our work! I love that in Word I can put my doc into the English (UK) language so it catches those different spellings, but unfortunately it doesn't correct words that are completely different in the 2 languages! Enjoyed your post!
Hurray, it's back!
I loved this post, Monica – I've also fallen foul of the find/replace command. Must remember that computers aren't intelligent.
Talking of car parts, how about trunk vs boot? Which makes me wonder what swimming trunks are called in the US?
And then there's that curious way Americans use the word 'already'…
Glad you were able to get this post back up – well worth the read!
Back when I was 23 my Brit boyfriend used a term that to him meant he would call me. In American english it had an entirely different meaning and he had to apologize profusely for the error. I let him off the hook at the time but still wonder. For the life of me I can't remember the term but can remember the argument.
This is such a neat post! I like the pants/vest one. So Brits call underwear "pants"? I did not know that! I dated a guy from Kenya, where of course they speak British english and once he asked me to get him a "vest" out of the drawer and of course I couldn't find one, because I was looking for what I call a vest, not an undershirt! The British version of Darcy in his vest and pants is much better than the American one! Lol
Do women refer to girlfriends as mates? Here are some British words I love: knackered, nappies, spot on, and a lot more.
Yes, thanks to wonderful Sharon Blogger regurgitated it. Perhaps the underwear references gave it indigestion, or maybe blogger enjoys a laugh now and then.
MarySimonsen — mates does tend to be more masculine, but it's not exclusively so.
MonicaP — how funny. He must wondered why you couldn't see the vests!
Kim — I'm intrigued. If you ever remember the word, let me know. Sorry you had to suffer a cross-cultural misunderstanding.
Kara — thanks — it's disconcerting especially since I was enjoyed the comments a lot.
Juliet — that's the thing about computers, isn't it? You assume they know what you mean but of course they take things very literally.
Blogger lost my previous comment: My favourite Brit word is "Chuffed". Americans do not have a single word which so well expresses that meaning.
Monica: I have written my books in British English because I have a lot of experience with it after 4 English au pairs, 4 South African au pairs who all learned English from English teachers, and 3 Latvian au pairs, who also had teachers who were English. I now find it difficult to spell in American…:-P
Juliet: We call them swimming suits for women and swimming suits or swim trunks for men. The term swimming costume was always one of our favourites with our English au pairs, too. For some reason, my parents particularly found it funny (I suppose I became accustomed to it).
I like barbie in Australia is a barbecue
Wow! I had no idea there were so many differences! It's crazy!
Glad the post got to come back up! I looked for it the other day and it was just… gone. Haha
To tell someone in England that you will knock them up also has quite different connotations than in the US
Monica, What a fun post! I am quite enjoying the visual of Darcy in his pants and vest!
The two big differences I’ve noticed between the two languages most frequently are:
color and colour
theater and theatre.
Great post. Now I know why some words are Mr and some Mr besides the obvious favor or favour(Br English). Well here in Malaysia, schools are taught our former colonial master's British English while working life seem to favour both American English and British English.
There is also a corruption of English in South East Asia such as Malaysian English (Manglish) and Singaporean English (Singlish). As an example, we like to add 'lah' and 'one' but not in the written form. You might not understand but we like to stress and shorten the sentence.
Don't go there lah instead of Don't go there.
Not like that one instead of It's not like that.
Maybe I'm confusing you all.
I have several current British cookbooks and some re-prints of older cookbooks, like Hannah Glasse's Art of Cookery Made Easy. Not only do you have British terms, but they are olde British terms — saltpeter, potash, sack — to add to the confusion.
So glad you reposted. I too had no idea there were so many differences and especially loved the pants/vest reference.
I recently had a very funny misunderstanding due to language differences…
hooters to Americans = derogatory word for women's breasts, hooters to the British = slang for noses.
rubbers to Americans = slang for condoms, rubbers to Brits = erasers (as you noted).
One of my favorite lessons when I was still in the classroom was a "Hillbilly IQ Test." It showed the bias against certain groups on standardized testing because of the differences in "word usage," reading material, and experiences.