# Sloppy foreign words/phrases in books **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 29, 2012, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sloppy-foreign-words-phrases-in-books/611034 "2012-01-29T00:03:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sloppy-foreign-words-phrases-in-books/611034/81 "2012-01-30T22:42:53Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > Just been watching Todd Margaret and one of the British characters said ‘cell phone’. As it is filmed in the UK, a British co production and the actress was British, I can’t help but feel some idiot executive insisted on it as they felt the Americans wouldn’t understand ‘mobile’. Reminds me of the friend from England who left her ‘mobile’ on the ‘personal shelf’ in my wife’s car. ‘Mobile’ is fairly well known, but rarely used. But we never heard of a ‘personal shelf’ (the shelf between the passenger seats and the rear window if I understood correctly). ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sloppy-foreign-words-phrases-in-books/611034/82 "2012-01-30T22:58:16Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Probably about the same. We use ‘block’ very generically outside of cities. And even in cities, ‘around the block’ doesn’t mean anything specific. A walk around the block means staying relatively local, as opposed to heading uptown or downtown for instance. Much of central Edinburgh is built on a grid system, more or less, and we use the term ‘block’ all the time in the American sense. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sloppy-foreign-words-phrases-in-books/611034/83 "2012-01-30T23:12:19Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Reminds me of the friend from England who left her ‘mobile’ on the ‘personal shelf’ in my wife’s car. ‘Mobile’ is fairly well known, but rarely used. But we never heard of a ‘personal shelf’ (the shelf between the passenger seats and the rear window if I understood correctly). Pretty sure I’d call that the passenger shelf. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sloppy-foreign-words-phrases-in-books/611034/84 "2012-01-30T23:14:30Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > Pretty sure I’d call that the passenger shelf. That might have been the term used. It was relayed to me second hand. She spoke to my wife who may have heard ‘passenger’ as ‘personal’. I don’t recall that term used either, though it makes more sense. ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sloppy-foreign-words-phrases-in-books/611034/85 "2012-01-30T23:27:25Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > That would work for me, that explanation.\*\*“Christmas crackers?” Bob asked.“Yeah, Aunt Mary’s first husband was British and we picked it up from him,” said Mrs. Smith.\*\*This may just be one of those YMMV things, but for me, something so uncommon as to seem a possible mistake may need a bit of a set up, and this would be one of them. I can agree with that, from personal experience. I’ve lived just outside of NYC for over 50 years. I was familiar with the concept of Christmas crackers, but had never actually seen one before last month. My teenage niece had heard about them, and she got a bunch of them for the family get-together. Only a couple of us knew what to do with them. A couple of others expected that when they opened them, there would be cookies inside. ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sloppy-foreign-words-phrases-in-books/611034/86 "2012-01-30T23:35:51Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > It’s not really the same. We do say “a walk around the block” to mean a short walk around the local area, lasting maybe ten minutes from start to finish at a stroll, but we’d never say ‘two blocks from here.’ It would literally not mean anything at all. As an estimate of distance, no. But what about when giving directions? I’d think it’s convenient, whether the streets are in a grid or not, to tell someone looking for the bakery to “go two blocks that way, turn right, then go three more blocks, and it’s on the left.” ---
**Author:** ![eclectic\_wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac91a4/32.png) [@eclectic\_wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eclectic_wench)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sloppy-foreign-words-phrases-in-books/611034/87 "2012-01-30T23:54:18Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > As an estimate of distance, no. But what about when giving directions? I’d think it’s convenient, whether the streets are in a grid or not, to tell someone looking for the bakery to “go two blocks that way, turn right, then go three more blocks, and it’s on the left.” No, it isn’t used that way over here. For one thing, the road you’re on is probably twisty, and the cross-streets come at irregular intervals, as well as being of different sizes and probably not going straight across (the next left turn probably isn’t directly opposite the next right turn) - there’s just no way to visualise things in terms of blocks. You’d say ‘Take the second right, and then it’s on your left just after the third left turn’ or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sloppy-foreign-words-phrases-in-books/611034/88 "2012-01-31T00:05:41Z")
> [@eclectic\_wench](#): > > No, it isn’t used that way over here. For one thing, the road you’re on is probably twisty, and the cross-streets come at irregular intervals, as well as being of different sizes and probably not going straight across (the next left turn probably isn’t directly opposite the next right turn) - there’s just no way to visualise things in terms of blocks. You’d say ‘Take the second right, and then it’s on your left just after the third left turn’ or whatever. It’s the same here. The term ‘block’ would be confusing if there isn’t a cross street that runs on both sides of the street you are on. But lots of people give poor directions and that doesn’t stop them. Are Brits better at giving directions than us Colonials? Do they tell you to turn where the old fire station used to be? ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sloppy-foreign-words-phrases-in-books/611034/89 "2012-01-31T00:15:23Z")
Others I’ve seen: Failure to recognize that Americans don’t call pill-form medicine “tablets,” as in “I had a headache so I took a couple of tablets,” or refer to people who take care of elderly or disabled people as “carers.” Also, American people who take care of children are called “babysitters” on an informal basis, or “child care workers” if it’s more regulated. The British seem to use “child minders.” Seeing those in books set in the U.S. is a sure sign that the editor is not up to date or paying attention. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sloppy-foreign-words-phrases-in-books/611034/90 "2012-01-31T00:35:51Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > _snip_ the Christmas dinner scene (where they’re also eating turkey, which I gather is more a Thanksgiving thing) _snip_ snipping mine Thanksgiving is nearly always turkey, but it’s not odd for Christmas either. Some do ham, some do turkey, I’m sure some do something else (do people still do goose?) Christmas Crackers, though, wow, that’s crazy. I wouldn’t even know what those are if not for a Mr. Bean episode, and there are british people in my family. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sloppy-foreign-words-phrases-in-books/611034/91 "2012-01-31T00:48:18Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Been over that before, just addressing ‘around the block’. As I’ve said, outside of a city, two blocks would just mean the next two cross streets, and we have many cities that have no grid. Even in a city, you’d confuse someone by using block to mean between 2nd and 3rd street when there are some intermediate streets there. > > We also use the term block to refer to a range of addresses, such as the 1700 block of Main St. That may or may not correspond directly with grid divisions. Also, a ‘block party’ which is supposed to be a community event for everyone on your block, is extended to mean…well anything. I recall someone trying to organize a Rt. 9 block party, which would have extended up and down the east coast of the US. > > I think the typical person from the UK would understand what we mean by block, but wouldn’t normally use the term. I think the typical British person would understand what you meant if you said you lived on the same block as so-and-so, but not ‘that’s two blocks away.’ > [@amanset](#): > > Just been watching Todd Margaret and one of the British characters said ‘cell phone’. As it is filmed in the UK, a British co production and the actress was British, I can’t help but feel some idiot executive insisted on it as they felt the Americans wouldn’t understand ‘mobile’. I really liked in a recent Sherlock episode when they had a character say cellphone, even though he was British. It seemed like a slip-up, maybe pandering to the US market, but was actually a plot point. > [@Meurglys](#): > > Much of central Edinburgh is built on a grid system, more or less, and we use the term ‘block’ all the time in the American sense. Really? Blimey, central Edinburgh definitely didn’t seem to be on a block system to me - nothing like US cities. But you’re Scottish, so I’ll refine my statements to be just about England. > [@Cartoonacy](#): > > As an estimate of distance, no. But what about when giving directions? I’d think it’s convenient, whether the streets are in a grid or not, to tell someone looking for the bakery to “go two blocks that way, turn right, then go three more blocks, and it’s on the left.” No. It just wouldn’t work. There just aren’t blocks. At least, not in most of England. You’d usually say something like ‘walk/drive two minutes that way…’ etc. Look at [this map](http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=531738&y=182693&z=1&sv=EC1V%200HB&st=PostCode&lu=N&tl=~&ar=y&bi=~&mapp=map.srf&searchp=ids.srf) of a place I used to live. There are kinda squares to fit the map, but they’re mostly not square in real life - those roads all curved and the buildings are all over the place - and they’re tiny. If you were walking from, say, Moorfields Eye Hospital to Angel tube station, how many blocks would you be passing? Or from Moorfields to Barts? ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sloppy-foreign-words-phrases-in-books/611034/92 "2012-01-31T00:55:31Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > Others I’ve seen: Failure to recognize that Americans don’t call pill-form medicine “tablets,” as in “I had a headache so I took a couple of tablets,” or refer to people who take care of elderly or disabled people as “carers.” > Also, American people who take care of children are called “babysitters” on an informal basis, or “child care workers” if it’s more regulated. The British seem to use “child minders.” > Seeing those in books set in the U.S. is a sure sign that the editor is not up to date or paying attention. We do use babysitters for informal childcare, done by family, friends or a suitable teenager. It’s mostly for evening childcare though, or short periods during the day now and then, not regular daytime care so the parents can work, which is probably where the difference lies. A childminder in the UK is a specific job - someone who looks after other people’s kids in their own home. It’s not a general term for someone who looks after kids. I’m sure I saw the singing chinless woman in Raising Hope referred to as a babysitter, and yeah, to me she’d be a childminder. Or some other term, maybe. But not a babysitter. ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sloppy-foreign-words-phrases-in-books/611034/93 "2012-01-31T01:36:51Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > Others I’ve seen: Failure to recognize that Americans don’t call pill-form medicine “tablets,” as in “I had a headache so I took a couple of tablets,” or refer to people who take care of elderly or disabled people as “carers.” > Also, American people who take care of children are called “babysitters” on an informal basis, or “child care workers” if it’s more regulated. The British seem to use “child minders.” > Seeing those in books set in the U.S. is a sure sign that the editor is not up to date or paying attention. Other than for same-sex couples and, in some cases, much older/late middle-aged couples, it would be pretty to quite rare to hear an American refer to their serious or live in unmarried love interest as their “partner.” It would be much, much more common, even sometimes for people in their 50s in long term unmarried relationships, to refer them as “boyfriend” or “girlfriend,” or at least “significant other.” I don’t know that any of those terms see much use in the British Isles for people once they are out of their school/college days. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sloppy-foreign-words-phrases-in-books/611034/94 "2012-01-31T01:45:53Z")
Yes, I see that all the time in English books. If an American refers to another person as his or her partner, unless the two people are standing right next to each other and the relationship is obvious, it’s always a question whether they mean domestic partners or business partners. In Britain, it seems to be quite common to refer to a live-in romantic partner. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sloppy-foreign-words-phrases-in-books/611034/95 "2012-01-31T07:12:44Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > As an estimate of distance, no. But what about when giving directions? I’d think it’s convenient, whether the streets are in a grid or not, to tell someone looking for the bakery to “go two blocks that way, turn right, then go three more blocks, and it’s on the left.” It may or may not be, but the fact remains that we don’t use it. I have no idea if “two blocks” in one direction (for example, “where’s the post office?”, “two blocks in that direction”) means the second block away from the one I am currently on or that there should be two clear blocks between the block I am on and the block I want to be on. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sloppy-foreign-words-phrases-in-books/611034/96 "2012-01-31T07:17:15Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > Look at [this map](http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=531738&y=182693&z=1&sv=EC1V%200HB&st=PostCode&lu=N&tl=~&ar=y&bi=~&mapp=map.srf&searchp=ids.srf) of a place I used to live. There are kinda squares to fit the map, but they’re mostly not square in real life - those roads all curved and the buildings are all over the place - and they’re tiny. > > If you were walking from, say, Moorfields Eye Hospital to Angel tube station, how many blocks would you be passing? Or from Moorfields to Barts? And to show that smaller non-London places have the same issue. Here’s where I grew up: [http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=428166&y=272849&z=0&sv=cv8+1ad&st=2&pc=cv8+1ad&mapp=map.srf&searchp=ids.srf](http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=428166&y=272849&z=0&sv=cv8+1ad&st=2&pc=cv8+1ad&mapp=map.srf&searchp=ids.srf) ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sloppy-foreign-words-phrases-in-books/611034/97 "2012-01-31T12:07:56Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > Really? Blimey, central Edinburgh definitely didn’t seem to be on a block system to me - nothing like US cities. But you’re Scottish, so I’ll refine my statements to be just about England. Well, I’m really meaning the Georgian/Victorian New Town areas, including the Southside. But of course there’s the higgledy piggledy Old Town right in the middle of it all. And, thinking about it, maybe the usage has changed a bit since I was growing up. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sloppy-foreign-words-phrases-in-books/611034/98 "2012-01-31T12:46:36Z")
> [@Meurglys](#): > > Well, I’m really meaning the Georgian/Victorian New Town areas, including the Southside. But of course there’s the higgledy piggledy Old Town right in the middle of it all. > And, thinking about it, maybe the usage has changed a bit since I was growing up. Looking at Edinburgh on Google Maps I can see where you’re coming from. There certainly area small areas that have a grid pattern, but they are generally spaced out and contained within weird shapes. I’m guessing in most cities you’ll find somewhere that has a grid pattern, but that doesn’t mean the city is set out that way. https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Edinburgh,%2BUnited%2BKingdom&hl=en&ll=55.952852,-3.173676&spn=0.085056,0.264187&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=60.54737,135.263672&oq=edinburgh&hnear=Edinburgh,%2BMidlothian,%2BUnited%2BKingdom&t=m&z=13 ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sloppy-foreign-words-phrases-in-books/611034/99 "2012-02-03T00:01:05Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > I’m sure I saw the singing chinless woman in Raising Hope referred to as a babysitter, and yeah, to me she’d be a childminder. Or some other term, maybe. But not a babysitter. She’s not really a good example of a babysitter, though. Really it’s more like you said it was (someone coming to watch the kids while the parents go out for a while). Shelley (I think that’s her name) is really more of a daycare provider than a babysitter. There’s not really a more streamlined name for it that I’m aware of like your term childminder. Daycare provider, daycare worker, just stuff like that. Not saying the show, or people in general, might not sometimes call them a babysitter, but that’s not at all the generally accepted use for the word. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sloppy-foreign-words-phrases-in-books/611034.md?page=4)