Harry Potter Dictionary
When the Harry Potter books were edited for
American readers some changers were made in
J.K.Rowling’s original text. Here are some of
them.
British edition
Be careful
If you travel in the USA, don’t use the word
‘toilet’. The American word for a public toilet is
‘restroom’. In Britain, however, it’s OK to say,
‘excuse me. Could you tell me where the toilet is?’
American edition
Understatement and realism
Toilet
Philosopher’s Stone
wardrobe
motorbike
cine-camera
football
sherbet lemon
ice lolly
jacket potato
sweet
sweet shop
tinned soup
pudding
biscuits
beetroot
packet of crisps
jumper
dressing gown
holiday
queue
post
mummy
cinema
changing room
mad
bathroom
Sorcerer’s Stone
closet
motorcycle
video camera
soccer
lemon drop
ice pop
baked potato
candy
candy shop
canned soup
desserts
cookies
beet
bag of chips
sweater
bathrobe
vacation
line
mail
mommy
movies
locket room
crazy
________________________________________
The opposites
The misunderstanding is worse when a word
means the opposite in two variants. One American
author was distressed when his British publisher
told him on the telephone that his latest book was
a bomb in Britain. In America to ‘bomb’ - it is not
normally used as a noun – is to flop.
Yet some of the most striking differences between
the two variants are not in vocabulary but in
usage. Britons in many areas of life still tend
towards understatement. Americans to hyperbole.
English
American
Understatement
realism
I suppose this meat
could perhaps be a little
more tender.
This meat is as tough
as old boots.
Our hotel room was
not exactly the Ritz.
The room was awful.
His speech could really
have been a little more
interesting.
It was the dullest
speech I’ve ever
heard.
It is said this difference once had dangerous
consequences during the Korean War. A British
officer called on the American for air support. The
American major said that all his aircraft were
assigned to other missions that day, and asked,
‘How bad is your position?’
‘It’s pretty sticky,’ said the British officer. Any
Briton would understand immediately that the
situation was desperate.
But the American major decided that there was
some difficulty but the situation was far from
critical. There was no air support.
American English VS British English
‘It was decided almost two hundred years ago
that English should be the language spoken in
the United States. It is not known, however,
why this decision has been carried out.’
George Mikes
‘We are two countries separated by a common
language.’
G. B. Show
English in America
For 150 years America was a British colony. At
that time British and American English were
almost exactly the same. When America won the
War of Independence in 1776, it became a free
country. In 1782, its citizens were proudly
christened ‘Americans’, and in 1802, US leaders
began to talk about ‘the American language’.
The USA was quickly richer and more
powerful. Millions of Europeans came to America
to start a new life there. There were settles from
Italy, Germany, Spain, Ireland, France and other
countries and all of them brought new words and
expressions to the language. The USA became a
‘melting pot’ of cultures. As a result, America
began to develop a character of its own and today,
there are certain differences in pronunciation,
grammar, vocabulary and spelling between
American and British English.
Different sounds
First of all, British and American English sound
differently. Often, Americans don’t say each word
separately. They say several words together.
Americans may say ‘I dunno’ instead of ‘I don’t
know.’ Or they may say ‘Whaddya say?’ instead
of ‘What did you say?’ The British are more
careful in their speech.
Also, some letters have different sounds. For
example, pronounce the ‘a’ in half, past, and last
as [æ].
How to speak New Yorkese
In New York City, many people have a way of
speaking English that is called New Yorkese.
Speakers of New Yorkese often speak very fast.
Unlike other Americans, they tend not to
pronounce the ‘r’ in words that end in ‘er’. But
they do pronounce the ‘r’ in the wrong words.
They add the letter at the end of words such as
‘idear’ (idea) and ‘sofer’ (sofa).
If you are a movie fanatic, you may have head
New Yorkese from Robert De Niro or Woody
Allen.
My English has gotten better
There are some grammatical differences between
British and American variants. In British English,
the past participle of ‘get’ is ‘gotten’. American
English accept the use of the Simple Past tense
where British English requires Present Perfect:
Did you see him yet?
He just went out.
Did you go there already?
Different prepositions
There are a number of interesting AngloAmerican differences in the use of certain
prepositions.
The British talk to their friends, the Americans
talk with them.
The British look out of the window, throw
something out of the window, and even fall out of
the window. Americans simply look out of the
window.
Americans check out the situation, while the
British check up on it.
If the British do not go out, they stay at home.
Americans stay home.
Citizens of the UK sit down to write to their
friends. Holders of the US passports simply write
their friends.
Verbal misunderstanding
Some American words are simply unknown on the
other side of the Atlantic, and vice versa. But a lot
of words exist in both variants, and these can
cause trouble.
In his book ‘How to Scrape Skies’ George Mikes
gives several examples of this verbal
misunderstanding: ‘You must be extremely
careful concerning the names of certain articles. If
you ask for suspenders in a man’s shop, you
receive a pair of braces, if you ask for a pair of
pants, you receive a pair of trousers and should
you ask for a pair of braces, you receive a queer
look.’
British visitors to America are often surprised at
the different meanings that familiar words have
acquired there. If an Englishman asks in an
American store for a vest, he will be offered a
waistcoat. If he wants to buy a handbag for his
wife, he should ask for a purse, and if she wants to
buy a pair of tights, she should ask for pantyhose:
tights in America are what ballet dancers wear.
What shall we wear?
British
American
Trousers
pants
Pants
underwear
Jumper
sweater
Trainers
sneakers
Dressing gown
bathrobe
Tights
pantyhose
Purse - кошелек (брит.), дам. Сумочка (амер.)
Extremely – очень, чрезвычайно
Tights – колготки (брит.)
Concerning – относительно, касательно
Pantyhose – колготки (амер.)
Article – предмет, вещь, изделие
Distressed – огорченный, пораженный
Suspenders – подвязки (бр.), подтяжки (ам.)
Bomb – сенсация (бр.), неудача, провал (ам.)
Braces – фигурные скобки, подтяжки (бр.)
To flop – потерпеть неудачу (амер.)
Pants – трусы (бр.), брюки (ам.)
Understatement - недоговоренность
Queer – странный, подозрительный
Striking - поразительный
To acquire - приобретать
To tend towards – быть склонным к
Vest – майка (бр.), жилет (ам.)
Hyperbole – преувеличение, гипербола
Waitcoat – жилет (бр)
Consequences - последствия
Air support – поддержка с воздуха
Major - майор
His aircraft were assigned to other mission – его
самолеты отправлены на выполнение других
заданий
Sticky – сложный, очень неприятный
Desperate - безнадежный
Was far from critical – была далеко не
критической
Vs (versus) - против
To carry out – выполнять, осуществлять
To christen – давать имя, называть
Settler - поселенец
Melting pot – «плавильный котел» (место
смешения рас и народов)
To develop – проявлять, обнаруживать
Verbal misunderstanding – недоразумение,
вызванное неправильным пониманием слова
Vice versa - наоборот
To cause trouble – причинять беспокойство
To scrape – скрести, царапать