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Wirralauthor
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How can I Americanise a UK book or short story to make it suitable for the American market?
I know some general American figures of speech, like "jerk" and "goddam" and "bozo." However, I need to make absolutely sure I don't overlook anything that should have been changed to an American term.
Is there any software online that can go through a Word manuscript and change British terms and spellings to American ones?
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billyjeanbj
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Quote: Wirralauthor, Saturday, 4 Jun 2011 13:04How can I Americanise a UK book or short story to make it suitable for the American market? I know some general American figures of speech, like "jerk" and "goddam" and "bozo." However, I need to make absolutely sure I don't overlook anything that should have been changed to an American term. Is there any software online that can go through a Word manuscript and change British terms and spellings to American ones? I would go easy on the use of "bozo." I haven't heard anyone say that for several years. Good luck.
For the love of writing...
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Chuck Buckner
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Quote: Wirralauthor, Saturday, 4 Jun 2011 13:04How can I Americanise a UK book or short story to make it suitable for the American market? I know some general American figures of speech, like "jerk" and "goddam" and "bozo." However, I need to make absolutely sure I don't overlook anything that should have been changed to an American term. Is there any software online that can go through a Word manuscript and change British terms and spellings to American ones? I'm American. I wouldn't change anything to please an American audience unles a publisher wants it changed then let them do it.
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rosefitzrobert
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I don't see any need to "Americanise" your book. We all just adore British things anyway  Besides, part of the adventure for a reader is to experience something outside her ordinary experience. Really the language isn't that different, it only sounds better when you lot speak it. The only thing I'd watch out for is the slang. Some things that are innocuous in British slang have unintended sexual connotations in the US. Your US publisher will spot them, so I wouldn't worry about it.
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papa stas
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Be careful when you use 'SUSPENDERS' They have a totally different connotation on the other side of the pond. In the USA - they hold up our pants (not trousers) In Britian - well, you already know what they hold up.  papa stas (almost got popped by asking a bloke if he was wearing his suspenders)
“The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.” - Albert Einstein
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notleyab
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Quote: papa stas, Monday, 31 Oct 2011 09:35Be careful when you use 'SUSPENDERS' They have a totally different connotation on the other side of the pond. In the USA - they hold up our pants (not trousers) In Britian - well, you already know what they hold up.  papa stas (almost got popped by asking a bloke if he was wearing his suspenders) And which fanny your suspenders clip near to.
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PERRY
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Considering we're half-Americanised by television and film, I wouldn't bother.
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denna
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I have experience with two words that pulled me up short while reading UK English over American English. The first had to do with eating biscuits. A US biscuit is something I’d eat with breakfast, say biscuits and gravy. Chocolate chip biscuits gave me a clue I wasn’t speaking about the same kind. So, I reasoned out, I think a cookie is biscuit. Second one is a lawyer. I can call a lawyer: councilor, attorney (or that bastard) depending on what I’ve hired him for. UK lawyers are called solicitor (I think) which for me would be one of those pesky people who stop by and try to sell me something I probably don’t want or need. Spelling hasn't ever bothered me, and I can't think of any words that weren't easily figured out when taken in context.
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paigecarter
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I wouldn't bother. I write both, having lived in both countries and having an American family. There are some, who no matter what language it's written in, won't 'get it' and need to go back to school to improve both spelling and grammar. Leave it your agent/publisher/editor Probably the only ones who will have the experience to know how or what to do with it.
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PERRY
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Quote: denna, Monday, 31 Oct 2011 19:19I have experience with two words that pulled me up short while reading UK English over American English. The first had to do with eating biscuits. A US biscuit is something I’d eat with breakfast, say biscuits and gravy. Chocolate chip biscuits gave me a clue I wasn’t speaking about the same kind. So, I reasoned out, I think a cookie is biscuit. Second one is a lawyer. I can call a lawyer: councilor, attorney (or that bastard) depending on what I’ve hired him for. UK lawyers are called solicitor (I think) which for me would be one of those pesky people who stop by and try to sell me something I probably don’t want or need. Spelling hasn't ever bothered me, and I can't think of any words that weren't easily figured out when taken in context. Ah but isn't a cookie computer junk mail which piggy-backs on sites (rhetorical). Biscuits are prolific, they get everywhere. We eat Weetabix here for breakfast (which is clearly a contraction of wheat biscuit). Cookies here are sweet, unadorned buns, like baps with sugar. A bap is single-portion baked loaf. Chips are french fries. Crisps are chips. French fancies are little cakes with icing and shaped like the hill in close encounters. Mince is, I presume, a type of commercial meatloaf. Mincemeat is the sweet filling in christmas tarts. A solicitor/lawyer are one and the same. A debtor (vernacular) is a creditor. A barrister is a lawyer who must be accessed for anything but small claims court (which deals with anything up to public order offences). A bumbag is NOT a lady hobo, but a fannypack and a fanny is a sexual organ. Your tush here is backside, bum, arse, ass, jacksy, bottom or hole - all of which may cross over individually or in combination to refer to lawyers or the police - the latter inviting the names the cavalry, plod, filth, scum, old bill, cops, dicks and a plethora of more inventive terms - few of which are complimentary.
This post was last edited by PERRY, 01 Nov 2011, 08:51
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