Jan from England

[louiejerome]

I hope this is the right place to introduce myself.

Hello, I'm Jan from England and I recently discovered this site. It looks very active and I hope that I am able to contribute successfully.

The big problem I have is switching betwen US and British English. I get quite confused.

Louie Jerome

[Ed]

You don't have to switch. We accept both. Just avoid using British (or American) slang.

Thanks,
Ed

[JD]

Louie

Hi! Being myself from the UK, I know exactly what you mean. Ed's advice is good. Keep your articles on the slightly less informal side, which will mean that you won't have to use too much slang. While it's easy to know which words to swap (faucet for tap, etc), I find the real difficulty is knowing what American idioms etc to use. Also remember that some of our expressions might not 'translate' that well in the US. I recently wrote an article in which I was going to use the expression 'suck it and see' (a perfectly acceptable and 'legit' expression in the UK), but after a little bit of research, I decided against it!

Welcome!

Jane

[jak]

Welcome from another fairly green Brit. I have tried to write with American English here because I think that's what most customers will want. And I've got past Ed so can't have done it too badly. But the earlier advice is good.

[JD]

Louie, Jak

I found this on the internet...

http://english2american.com/dictionary/a.html

American translations of some everyday Eglish words, but it works the other way round, too. For example, the board game snakes and ladders is, apparently, called chutes and ladders in the US. It's that sort of thing that we'd probably trip up on (should we ever want to write about board games that is!).

From the little I've read, it seems to be fairly amusing, too.

Jane

[grouchy]

I've thoroughly enjoyed this exchange! Is it OK if I use "Suck it and see" when the situation calls for it? I LOVE that phrase.

p.s. not in my writing, Ed - not to worry.

[JD]

Grouchy - yes, there are times when ONLY that phrase will do!

[jak]

Thanks for that link, JD. Love the humour (humor).

There are a number of helpful websites to be found if you google UK to American English. But sometimes it's frustrating. I recently spent ages recently searching for 'supermarket' and couldn't find it. In the end I just used 'food store'. I was tempted to use 'Walmart' but I just wasn't sure.

[Ed]

Grocery store? Supermarket is acceptable. Even just "market" in some regions (readers will still understand). I think, though, that most people in the US go grocery shopping.

[JD]

ah yes, but do they use a shopping trolley or a shopping cart in which to place their goods...?

[Ed]

We use carts in the States. Well, I use a basket unless I'm having a party.