Snapedom

Original poster: dreamy_dragon73

I was wondering about the difference, apart from the literal meaning, between sodding, ruddy, blasted, and damn. In other words who would say what? Does it depend on age, class, region (i.e. would Severus use these expressions, if at all, differently than Hermione or Lucius?).

Original poster: melusin_79

Below is our fledgling Brit List. We're aiming for a broad spectrum - culture, history, geography etc. as well as language, expressions, regional dialects - anything, really, that will help you write in the Potterverse.

Future contributions will be linked to this list.

All suggestions are welcome.

darkheartwalsh

hope_24

melusin_79

persevero

camillo1978

CULTURE:

Class and the Potterverse


OTHER USEFUL SOURCES:

hb_britglish: http://community.livejournal.com/hp_britglish/profile
britpickery: http://community.livejournal.com/britpickery/
Dictionary of English Slang and colloquialisms: http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/index.htm
Language Reference Guide For British English: http://www.translationdirectory.com/article663.htm
Mrs Muggle's Potterwords.  Invaluable for quick canon references - used by most of the moderated archives as such: potterwords
Villages in England: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Villages_in_England
Towns in England: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_towns_in_England
Traditional English Names: http://www.behindthename.com/nmc/eng_.php</lj>

Original poster: junewilliams7

Am working on a fic and want to make sure this isn't totally American.  What do pre-school British children call their grandparents - Gran and Grandpa?  Grandmum and Granddad?  Other?

At Christmas, American parents take their young children to get their photo taken with a Santa Claus impersonator - this is set up at shopping malls, mostly.  Sometimes the kids cry because they don't like sitting in Santa's lap, but often the parents have the picture taken anyway.  The picture is usually sent with the family's Christmas cards.  Does this happen in the UK also - with a faux Father Christmas?

American kids are often told if their baby teeth have come out, they can leave the tooth under the pillow. Sometime that night, the Tooth Fairy will come and leave them money for the tooth.  Is this something that British kids might do?

Do Brits called New Zealanders "Kiwis"?

Thank you!

Original poster: mary_j_59

This is not a rec, exactly - rather, a request for some britpicking. A few of you may know I have a series of short stories going on about Snape (now known as Michael Griffin in my personal universe) and his son, Christopher. I've just finished the third, and it's up at my livejournal. Here is the link: mary-j-59.livejournal.com/16689.html#cutid1

I haven't lived in England since the 1970s, and haven't visited for close to three years, so it's likely there are some details I've gotten wrong (such as the use or non-use of 'gotten'?).If you have other criticisms about flow, pacing, characterization, etc, I'd be happy to hear them.

But also let me know if this is inappropriate for this community. If so, I'll remove this post. Happy Friday!

Original poster: persevero

Medical bills. This came up in a recent (really excellent) SS/HG, and I've encountered it before. In Britain, Muggle medical care is free at the point of use. Not just for poorer families, but all of us. Of course long-term illnesses cause financial hardship, especially if a breadwinner is unable to work, but we don't usually pay medical bills as such.

I'm sure someone will get back to me on the details here - I acknowledge that the system is far from satisfactory and that queues for, say, hip replacements, may mean that people struggle to find the money to go private, but certainly a person with leukaemia should have no medical bills at all.

Original poster: melusin_79

Seeing as I was the one who suggested this, I thought I’d get the ball rolling with some suggestions:

It might be helpful if fellow Brits could post words and phrases they see on a regular basis that make you stop and think WTF? One small example that pulls me up short is, ‘I’ll just go and wash up.’ The natural response to this would be, ‘Where’s the tea towel? I’ll dry.’

As I’m sure you’re aware, there are many words that have different meanings on either side of the pond. Fanny is probably the most famous, but I would like to point out a lesser-known one – maybe something that few Brits know about. I only know this myself because my mother-in-law, visiting her cousins in the States, was asked ‘So, what do you think of the house?’ to which she replied, ‘It’s very homely.’ They were offended, and she had no idea why.

My mother-in-law was telling her cousin that her home was cosy, warm and inviting. Her cousin heard plain and ugly. I see the word applied to people, ‘his homely features,’ for example, (an expression we would never use), and I’m not really sure how derogatory this is. Is it worse/better/same as saying ugly? I’d be interested to know.

NB - Please feel free to start a separate post.

Original poster: sylvanawood

As a resource for authors on this community, we would like to compile a list of British idioms/phrases/cultural information to aid non-Brits in their writing within the Potterverse.  Feel free to post any questions you may have; there's bound to be someone lurking around who will be able to answer them.  We will add all contributions to the list.  Links to existing British/American lists and relevant communities will also be included.

 The brit list will be compiled, maintained and updated by

melusin_79

melusin_79