Complex Numbers

Language Barrier

Entry #3 of 8 for "Journalistic Intentions"  [18+] - as usual, I pulled this one at random, but honestly, if it hadn't, I'd probably cheat by making it my eighth entry anyway.

Education, education, education

The differences between US and UK terminology and society have been an interest of mine for a long time. When I was a kid, lo these many years ago (but still after the Revolution), I read both American and British childrens' books. This led to a good bit of confusion, some of which persists to this day.

I've also been known to use British idioms from time to time, like when I say I can't be arsed to do whatever. I do generally use American spellings of words, though some spellings probably slip through. For instance, I'm pretty sure I've used both "canceled" and "cancelled," the latter of which is generally British. Still, I don't have a colourful sense of humour.

Now, I've joked in here before that they invented this language, but we perfected it. Just to be clear, that is, indeed, a joke. But it does help to have a bit of guidance on the differences. Most famously, probably, Rowling changed one of the books in her famous series from "Philosopher's Stone" to "Sorcerer's Stone," apparently specifically because American kids would think of old boring guys with beards if the former were used. (To be fair, most philosophers were old boring guys with beards, except for Neitzche who had an epic mustache, and Camus who wasn't old and kept his face shaved).

Personally, I think the world would have been a better place if they didn't have a separate Freedom Edition of Potter, but instead took the opportunity to introduce the little brats to UK English.

And yes, I know Rowling is cancelled now. Or was she canceled? I can't keep it straight.

Like I said yesterday, I'm currently going through the source material before going to see Cruella on Thursday. Disney has long had a... difficult... relationship with British stories, and the Dalmatians movies are no exception. Still not as cringeworthy as Mary Poppins, though. Point is, I hadn't seen the 1961 cartoon since like 1970, and I'd never bothered with the live-action 1996 remake, which, apart from Glenn Close doing her best "The Devil Wears Pongo" impression, Hugh Laurie being Hugh Laurie, and a bunch of disgustingly cute puppies, turns out to be fairly unremarkable. In any case, the movies reminded me that I'd read the actual 101 Dalmatians book (with the numbers spelled out, which I can't be arsed to do) way back in my misspent youth, and it was one of the works of fiction that introduced me to Britishisms.

Incidentally, I'm not bothering with any of the sequels, and I don't hold out much hope for Cruella. I mean, I get her as a villain? But this trend toward glorifying the Bad Guy (or Gal) is rather off-putting. She's a puppykiller, for fuck's sake -- perfect antagonist material, as long as she doesn't actually get her way. What's next, are we going to get a movie with a pedophile as the protagonist? (Yes, yes, I know, Lolita, whatever -- no one in that movie was a sympathetic character, not even the girl or Jeremy Irons.)

Where was I? Oh, yeah, the video above. Look, I know it can be a pain in the ass (or arse) to click on all these embedded videos, but that one's worth a watch. The guy in the video at first seems like some updated version of Alistair Cooke from Masterpiece Theater, but it's all a cover for a dry British wit (which is almost as good as dry British gin), while at the same time being, well... educational.

And if you're reading this blog in the first place, I can only assume you like a side of humo(u)r with your facts and my opinions.

The ultimate point here is: yes, the US and UK educational systems are different. But both seem to work, so why bother comparing them? Well, partly because almost all knowledge is worth having, but also partly to foster better cross-pond communication. After all, as the narrator points out (paraphrasing Shaw, apparently), we're separated by a common language.