I’m a Kreative Blogger!

I’ve been nominated for a Kreative Blogger Award by the good folks at Whirling Point. I have a tendency to forget to write a post when I’m nominated for a blogger award, but not this time dear blog reader!

There’s an argument about social networking (yes, that includes blogging) that people are spending way too much time making “friends” in the digital world than actually taking the time to see them in person. I sort of agree, face to face is better than face-to-screen-to-face, but then that’s not easy to achieve if you’ve made a connection with someone in another country is it?

The reason why I decided to act on this award is because Spijder, one of the writers at Whirling Point, took the time to email me and ask if I would accept the award before posting it on their blog. I like that. I like the fact that Spijder wrote me an email instead of simply plonking my blog link under the image of the blogger award.

I’m not saying that I do that myself, or that anyone who does throw up a link to a blog they’ve nominated for an award should always email said blogger prior to sharing. It’s usually pretty flattering to find someone has nominated you for something right out of the blue.

Happy Sunny Beach Time!

Went to the beach today, a lovely place called Wells-next-the-Sea in North Norfolk. Talk about hot, you could have fried an egg on the sand…well, not that anyone was, but there were plenty of barbecue smells wafting across the beach! I took some happy colourful photos for you to enjoy!

We found a spot out in the centre on a bunch of sand dunes. Forgive the scruffy old trainers, they’ve seen better days, but they make walking across the hot sand easier than bare feet! The family behind the wind breaker had a barbecue on the go, we could see the smoke but thankfully we were up wind and couldn’t smell what had to be the mouth-watering burgers!

I quite like this photo, mainly because of the contrails from the air-plane high in the sky and the thought of the holiday people on board heading somewhere hot, only to miss out on pretty amazing weather right here in the UK! We never bothered to walk to the actual sea as it was low tide and would have taken a loooong time get there!

That bit of blue you can see through the grass isn’t the sea but a strip of water, the sea is beyond the mass of sand and not actually visible from where we were camped out.

Beach huts line the edge of the beach, a couple were a little run down but the majority appear to be very well looked after. Brings to mind the golden age of the British beach where men wore those funny striped getups and it was against the law to show more than 4% of your body!

Wells-next-the-Sea wasn’t jam-packed with people like some beaches, there were wide open spaces, children playing, dogs dashing about, sand castles being constructed, barbecues sizzling and smoking, laughter, fun, games and good all round happy fun times! What a marvellous way to spend a Sunday afternoon, wouldn’t you agree dear blog reader?

Happy Summer!

Americanisms v Britishisms

I’ve been beavering away on my the current edit of my novel, The Range, in particular making my American character’s dialogue sound as authentic as possible. As a result I’ve become quite fascinated by Americanisms and how they translate into UK English.

Most UK folk will probably know the common stuff – side walk for pavement, garbage for rubbish, closet for wardrobe and so on, and I’m delighted to keep discovering new stuff. Some might argue that the UK English language is being eroded by Americanisms but I disagree. I prefer to think of it as a merging of one language separated by two countries then brought back together again.

As with any language regional dialects, certain phrases, euphemisms and pronunciations can vary a great deal even within a relatively small geographical area.

In terms of where my American character hails from, well, he has lived in the UK, but spent some time living in the US, no specific place so I’ve been looking for generic Americanisms rather than specific colloquialisms. So whilst my Yankee Doodle Dandy chap does say “rubbish” instead of “garbage” there’s still a twang of American accent in his voice.

So why is he from the US?

At times I wonder if I’ve made this too difficult for myself, and why isn’t he simply from somewhere I know like Manchester or London? The original concept for the story included a plot bigger than I cared to fit into one novel. As a result the sequel to The Range is called The Survivors, of which I’ve written 45,000 words of an unfinished first draft. And the the final part is called The Retreat, nothing written on that as yet, only notes and basic plot outline.

I wanted this character to be from somewhere else other than the UK. He could come from anywhere but when I came up with the idea it felt easier to write dialogue in English instead of struggling to write with, say, a French, Spanish or Chinese accent. Easier my arse.

Researching the American Accent.

I watch all manner of US TV, Friends, Lost, Desperate Housewives, 24, Flash Forward (tragic) not to mention The Simpsons and Family Guy or indeed movies. The funny thing is that I never really take much notice of accents. The actors speak, the story unfolds, I go along with it. The times when I do notice the American accent is when an English actor joins the cast, like Helen Baxendale in Friends.

A couple of my beta readers told me the American accent didn’t come across. I know why too. I was so intent on moving the story along I didn’t pay much attention to the actual words and phrases he used that should have identified him as American. Before starting on my current draft I paid a great deal of time listening to American accents on TV shows and movies. Reading fiction has helped but it requires that I read everything twice.

I don’t read a book once then start again. Instead I enjoy it as a reader, but at the back of my mind my inner writer is sat on his comfy bean bag taking notes. Sometimes he forgets as he’s enjoying the story as much as I am. So I give him a prod and he gets back to work, picking out those little words, inflections, mannerisms etc.

I hope I’ve made good progress with my American characters dialogue but until actual American readers read the story I can’t be entirely sure. I’m not sure if it’s right to assume an editor of a publishing company will pick up on whether it reads as authentic or not. I’d hope so. Until that day comes I’ll keep rubbing away the sharp edges to get it right.

Keeping track of Americanisms.

As I trawl through the internet I come across sites with lots of Americanisms. I bookmark them for future reference. This is very handy for translating UK English into American English, but after a while it became a chore to constantly look up words. So I designed my own little dictionary instead. And so to the purpose of today’s post, to share some of my findings with you, dear blog reader, so you can check out the differences for yourself.

I’m keen to know if there are any mistakes in this list. Let me know if you spot anything wrong or have any of your own Americanisms that would be useful in helping define my characters dialogue.

UK English	US English
Arse – also known as Bottom, Bum, Backside.	Ass – or Glutes if you happen to be in a gym environment.
Biscuits.	Cookies.
Boot – back bit of a car.	Trunk.
Bonnet – front bit of a car.	Hood.
Courgette.	Zucchini.
Cinema.	Movie House or Movies.
Chips – in the UK these are thicker versions of the French Fry.	Fries – I’ve heard that Steak Fries are what Americans have with steak or other meat dishes.
Crisps.	Potato Chips.
CV – Curriculum Vitae.	Resume – although this is more a condensed version of the CV, which I understand Americans do use but it’s more a detailed thing and can run over more than one page.
Estate Agent.	Realtor or Real Estate Agent. Often makes me wonder why it has to be “Real” and where the “Fake” Estate Agents are!
Film.	Movie – personally I think the word “Film” to be kinda dated and much prefer “Movie.”
Flat – A residence in a block, all on one level. The UK use of this doesn’t give the same visual reference as the generic American wide open apartment as seen on US sitcoms etc.	Apartment – I’ve heard that if you tell an American you live in a flat, they’ll ask: “A flat what?”
Garage – this is often used to describe both a fuel station and a place to park your car at night.	Gas Station – not sure what the American version of a place to park a car. Driveway? Parking Space? Car Hole?
Ground Floor – in the UK this means the one at street level. Mostly.	First Floor – I’m given to understand that this can also mean Ground Floor. I’m confused.
Head Teacher.	Principle.
Holiday.	Vacation – Americans use the term “Holiday” to describe a special day, and “Vacation” for a period of happy fun time away from work etc.
Lorry – both of these are used in the UK, though a Lorry is usually for a bigger vehicle with a longer wheel base.	Truck.
Loo or Toilet. Also known as Bog, Crapper, Shittter, Pisser.	Restroom – Apparently Americans consider a Loo as the actual thing you sit on rather than a room. I personally like “John” and “Head” though I’m not sure if these are regional words.
Minced Beef.	Ground Beef.
Parcel.	Package.
Pavement.	Side walk.
Petrol.	Gas – shortened version of Gasoline. Gas in the UK is stored in bottles like Propane.
Postman.	Mailman.
Pissed – drunk, hammered, shit-faced, mullered, wankered.	Angry – or “Pissed off” but I’m not sure an American would add the word “off.”
Pub.	Bar – though in the UK we have both. Pubs are more traditional olde English types and bars are trendy places, sports theme bar for example.
Queue.	Line.
Roundabout.	Traffic Island – though I get the feeling the US doesn’t have many of these, whereas in the UK they’re everywhere.
Rubbish – in the UK you might also hear the word “Garbage” but not in the same sense: “My printer keeps churning out garbage.”	Garbage.
Rubber.	Eraser - the UK “Rubber” also means condom as in “Rubber up!”
Shop.	Store – Americans tend to shop in stores whereas in the UK we just shop.
Silencer – on a car or motorcycle, or on a gun perhaps.	Muffler.
Solicitor.	Lawyer/Attorney – in the UK a solicitor can also mean those annoying idiots who try and sell you junk on your doorstep.
Spanner.	Wrench.
Sweets – sweeties, confectionery, chocolate etc.	Candy – not sure if this describes all sweet tasty treats or just those without chocolate, like Jelly Beans.
Tap.	Faucet – I think this is right. I guess Americans would say tap water not faucet water, so it describes the object more than the usage of it.
Trousers.	Pants – this is often quite hilarious to UK folk as the English version of this refers to underwear eg: Boxer shorts.

Related articles

• U.K. vs American English (ghostofawriter.wordpress.com)