# Harry Potter Transatlantic Editing Question (no spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 30, 2007, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-transatlantic-editing-question-no-spoilers/413691 "2007-07-30T15:34:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2007, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-transatlantic-editing-question-no-spoilers/413691/21 "2007-08-01T10:50:09Z")
[QUOTE=Helena] Oh, and as I’ve been re-reading, I’ve caught at least one grammatical error in each of the last three books. I wonder if the American editor caught those? (One was a “we” that should have been “us,” and the other two were lie/lay errors.) [/QUOTE] Were they in dialogue? If so they could have been deliberate, to reflect ungrammatical speech. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2007, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-transatlantic-editing-question-no-spoilers/413691/22 "2007-08-01T12:04:44Z")
[QUOTE=Wendell Wagner] I’m somewhat surprised that you don’t know about the differences between the American and the British editions. It seemed to me like every thread about Harry Potter ended up discussing the differences. Here are two recent examples of those threads: > **[Luna Lovegood is NOT supposed to be the hottest little thing at Hogwarts!](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=427180)** > > So why does she look like this: WarnerBros.com | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | Movies (pick Luna from the drop-down menu). That girl is seriously cute. And while I understand the idea that practically all actressees, even British... > **[Why are UK and US titles different for the same book?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=430650)** > > This may be a silly question, but I wonder why American and British titles to the same book are often different. After reading In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson, I decided to visit Australia. Browsing a bookstore there I noticed another Bill... [/QUOTE] I never said I was unaware there were differences. I’m well aware of them; that wasn’t at all what my OP was about. ---
**Author:** ![Helena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c68b51/32.png) [@Helena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2007, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-transatlantic-editing-question-no-spoilers/413691/23 "2007-08-01T14:50:53Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] Were they in dialogue? If so they could have been deliberate, to reflect ungrammatical speech. [/QUOTE] Two of them were in dialog–I considered that possibility, but they were said by Snape and Voldemort, who I would not expect to be ungrammatical. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-transatlantic-editing-question-no-spoilers/413691/24 "2007-08-02T00:54:24Z")
Sorry, I didn’t mean you, Fiver, but some of the other posters in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![MissMossie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@MissMossie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissMossie)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-transatlantic-editing-question-no-spoilers/413691/25 "2007-08-02T11:11:11Z")
[QUOTE=Fiver] You’ve missed my point, which is that the American edition of the book shouldn’t need **any** corrections, beyond changing the spelling to match American orthography (which it still shouldn’t need even in that case, but that’s a different thread). The Bloomsbury people have already (I assume) worked with Rowling to make her original manuscript publishable. [/QUOTE] Looking at some of the changes listed in **NoPretentiousCodename** ’s link, I’m glad they made them. I’ve spent a fair amount of time living/working with people from the UK and I know that when they tell me to put my rubbish in the bin, I’m meant to throw away my trash, or if they like my jumper, they’re talking about my sweater and not my dress. I even know that a fanny (the Americans in the group had used the term “fanny pack”) is something a bit different across the pond. I still wouldn’t have known what Rowling was talking about without some of the American editing differences. For instance, from the Chamber of Secret’s list: -tank top -\> sweater vest -news agent’s -\> variety store -grass on Hagrid -\> squeal on Hagrid -jump-jets -\> missiles There are a few more, no more than a handful in the entire book, but it would have been enough to leave me scratching my head at times. I like to pretend that I’m a bit cleverer than the average American Harry Potter reader, so I imagine that many other’s would have also been confused. A lot of those word changes, IMHO, made sense. Why wouldn’t you have them changed? ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-transatlantic-editing-question-no-spoilers/413691/26 "2007-08-02T11:49:37Z")
[QUOTE=MissMossie] I still wouldn’t have known what Rowling was talking about without some of the American editing differences. [/quote] And would it have killed you to look them up in a dictionary or encyclopedia? > [@](#): > > A lot of those word changes, IMHO, made sense. Why wouldn’t you have them changed? So I can immerse myself in another culture, another world. Why else does one read fiction in the first place? ---
**Author:** ![MissMossie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@MissMossie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissMossie)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-transatlantic-editing-question-no-spoilers/413691/27 "2007-08-02T12:17:26Z")
[QUOTE=Fiver] And would it have killed you to look them up in a dictionary or encyclopedia? So I can immerse myself in another culture, another world. Why else does one read fiction in the first place? [/QUOTE] Well, yes, actually. I would have immediately dropped dead after opening the dictionary. :rolleyes: > [@Webster's New World Dictionary](#): > > **tank top** [[orig. worn in swimming tanks]] a casual shirt like an undershirt but with wider shoulder straps > [@Webster's New World Dictionary](#): > > **grass** \ **1** a plant with long, narrow leaves, jointed stems, and seedlike fruit , as wheat, rye, etc. **2** any of various green plants with narrow leaves growing densely in meadows, lawns, etc. **3** pasture or lawn **4** [Slang] marijuana Neither “news agents” nor “jump-jets” were in my dictionary, but looking up “news”, “agents”, “jumps”, and “jets” did not lead me to what Rowling meant by the words. It wasn’t just that I was being lazy, my dictionary is actually kept on a small bookshelf beside my bed because I refer to it frequently enough while reading that I like it within arms reach. I could find the British meanings of those words online, but I also don’t think it’s unreasonable to dislike pausing my reading long enough to do so. The way that Americans speak English has shifted enough from how people in the UK speak English that translations are needed. If the book was written in, say, German, it would have been translated for an American audience. That’s just what publishers do for audiences that speak a different (even if it’s only slightly different) language than the author. As for immersing yourself in another culture, if you were reading a book about a country which had a native language you were unfamiliar with, would you just keep a dictionary by your side so that you could translate words you didn’t know? \*I cut out the bit about how to pronounce grass. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-transatlantic-editing-question-no-spoilers/413691/28 "2007-08-02T13:15:41Z")
Not sure why they changed “jump-jets” to missiles. The words are not synonymous. A [Harrier jump jet](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrier_Jump_Jet) is not a missile, and I don’t know of any other usage for the phrase. Incidentally, what do Americans call a newsagents? (It is usually spelt as one word these days.) I.e. a shop that sells newspapers and magazines, maybe sweets/candy and cigarettes? “Variety store” doesn’t seem right. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-transatlantic-editing-question-no-spoilers/413691/29 "2007-08-02T13:16:40Z")
The ambiguous ones are the tough ones for younger readers who don’t have a huge vocabulary to begin with. Like “trainers”. If they don’t know what it means, they have to look it up in the dictionary, and that doesn’t help at all. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-transatlantic-editing-question-no-spoilers/413691/30 "2007-08-02T13:43:09Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] Incidentally, what do Americans call a newsagents? (It is usually spelt as one word these days.) I.e. a shop that sells newspapers and magazines, maybe sweets/candy and cigarettes? “Variety store” doesn’t seem right. [/QUOTE] We usually call them “newsstands.” I agree that “variety store” is not a good fit. > [@SmackFu](#): > > The ambiguous ones are the tough ones for younger readers who don’t have a huge vocabulary to begin with. Like “trainers”. If they don’t know what it means, they have to look it up in the dictionary, and that doesn’t help at all. The American versions still refer to “trainers,” don’t they? I find this rather suprising, seeing as Americans would be more inclined to call them “sneakers.” ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-transatlantic-editing-question-no-spoilers/413691/31 "2007-08-02T14:02:54Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] …Incidentally, what do Americans call a newsagents? (It is usually spelt as one word these days.) I.e. a shop that sells newspapers and magazines, maybe sweets/candy and cigarettes? “Variety store” doesn’t seem right. [/QUOTE] Agreed, but “newsstand” sounds a little 1930s-ish to me. Drug stores (also called, maybe a little more formally, pharmacies) also serve that function in the U.S. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-transatlantic-editing-question-no-spoilers/413691/32 "2007-08-02T14:08:17Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] Not sure why they changed “jump-jets” to missiles. The words are not synonymous. A [Harrier jump jet](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrier_Jump_Jet) is not a missile, and I don’t know of any other usage for the phrase. Incidentally, what do Americans call a newsagents? (It is usually spelt as one word these days.) I.e. a shop that sells newspapers and magazines, maybe sweets/candy and cigarettes? “Variety store” doesn’t seem right. [/QUOTE] “Newsstand” is a closer American equivalent to “newsagent.” Although you don’t see many newsstands nowadays. And the remaining ones usually have rather unsavory (unsavoury) back rooms selling periodicals that make _Hustler_ seem staid. “Variety store” is even _more_ old fashioned! For us smart American kids, the Canadian editions of HP are readily available for purchase. Yes, I’ve heard of The [Philosopher’s Stone](http://www.amazon.ca/Harry-Potter-philosophers-stone-Rowling/dp/1551923963/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/702-6078470-1916010?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1186062704&sr=8-1)! But apparently the[French](http://www.amazon.ca/Harry-Potter-LEcole-Sorciers-Rowling/dp/2070612368/ref=pd_ecc_rvi_1/702-6078470-1916010?ie=UTF8&qid=1186063189&sr=1-6) kids haven’t. And–for the true linguistic [sophisticate](http://www.amazon.ca/Harry-Potter-Agus-Orebloch-Philosophers/dp/1582348286/ref=sr_1_2/702-6078470-1916010?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1186063312&sr=1-2)! ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-transatlantic-editing-question-no-spoilers/413691/33 "2007-08-02T15:45:48Z")
[QUOTE=Bridget Burke] Yes, I’ve heard of The [Philosopher’s Stone](http://www.amazon.ca/Harry-Potter-philosophers-stone-Rowling/dp/1551923963/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/702-6078470-1916010?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1186062704&sr=8-1)! But apparently the[French](http://www.amazon.ca/Harry-Potter-LEcole-Sorciers-Rowling/dp/2070612368/ref=pd_ecc_rvi_1/702-6078470-1916010?ie=UTF8&qid=1186063189&sr=1-6) kids haven’t. [/QUOTE] Oh god, am I interpreting that right? The French **did** go with “Harry Potter and the School of Magic”?! ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-transatlantic-editing-question-no-spoilers/413691/34 "2007-08-02T16:17:27Z")
No, no, no! It’s _Harry Potter and the School of Sorcerers_. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-transatlantic-editing-question-no-spoilers/413691/35 "2007-08-02T16:28:05Z")
[QUOTE=Helena] Two of them were in dialog–I considered that possibility, but they were said by Snape and Voldemort, who I would not expect to be ungrammatical. [/QUOTE] I believe that should be “whom I would not expect to be ungrammatical.” ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-transatlantic-editing-question-no-spoilers/413691/36 "2007-08-02T17:01:06Z")
[QUOTE=Rysto] No, no, no! It’s _Harry Potter and the School of Sorcerers_. [/QUOTE] Are you sure? Looks like _Harry Potter and the School of Bechamel Makers_ to me. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-transatlantic-editing-question-no-spoilers/413691/37 "2007-08-02T18:39:20Z")
No, no, no. _Harry Potter and the Academy of Creme Brulee Masters_. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-transatlantic-editing-question-no-spoilers/413691/38 "2007-08-02T23:48:02Z")
MissMossie writes: \> -tank top -\> sweater vest \> -news agent’s -\> variety store \> -grass on Hagrid -\> squeal on Hagrid \> -jump-jets -\> missiles One of these is turned around. For the last three of these, it’s British -\> American, but the first one is American -\> British. “Sweater vest” is what Brits call a tank top. ---
**Author:** ![MissMossie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@MissMossie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissMossie)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-transatlantic-editing-question-no-spoilers/413691/39 "2007-08-02T23:58:39Z")
[QUOTE=Wendell Wagner] MissMossie writes: \> -tank top -\> sweater vest \> -news agent’s -\> variety store \> -grass on Hagrid -\> squeal on Hagrid \> -jump-jets -\> missiles One of these is turned around. For the last three of these, it’s British -\> American, but the first one is American -\> British. “Sweater vest” is what Brits call a tank top. [/QUOTE] Are you sure? I checked my American addition and, sure enough, it refers to Percy wearing a sweater vest. If he was wearing a [tank top](http://images.google.com/images?q=tank+top&num=100&hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=AMk&um=1&sa=X&oi=images&ct=title) as Americans generally think of them, I would very much wonder about him. [Sweater vests](http://images.google.com/images?q=sweater+vest&num=100&hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=Y24&um=1&sa=X&oi=images&ct=title) as Americans think of them, seem to suit his character a bit more. Disclaimer: Yes, yes, I know that I can’t accurately speak for every American. I do feel that I’m not totally outlandish in my claims of American fashion though. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2007, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-transatlantic-editing-question-no-spoilers/413691/40 "2007-08-03T00:52:31Z")
Hmm, you seem to be right: > **[Sweater vest](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tank_top_(sweater))** > > A sweater vest (known as a tank top, sleeveless sweater or sleeveless pullover in the UK) is an item of knitwear that is similar to a sweater, but without sleeves, usually with a low-cut neckline. They were popular in the 20th century, particularly in the 1970s in the UK, and are again growing in popularity in this century. > One of the most common patterns on a sweater vest is argyle. Many newer designs feature a return to popular patterns from eras past. Other variations include designs of a mor... So a tank top in the U.K. is a sweater vest in the U.S. The funny thing is that a string vest in the U.K. is what’s often called a wife-beater in the U.S., which is close to what’s called a tank top in the U.S. So tank top -\> sweater vest, but string vest -\> wife-beater (which is almost a tank top), going British -\> American in both cases. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-transatlantic-editing-question-no-spoilers/413691.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-transatlantic-editing-question-no-spoilers/413691.md?page=3)