strassenbahn (imported) wrote: Fri Aug 05, 2005 8:06 am I don't know if Harry Potter uses a cell phone, but if so he would refer to it as his "handy".

strassenbahn (imported) wrote: Fri Aug 05, 2005 8:06 am If Harry is careful about crossing the street he does so at a "zebra crossing", with all vehicles having to stop for a pedestrian who enters it. Zebra crossings are marked by a flashing orange globe on either end, the globes being mounted on black-and-white striped poles; there are also U.S. style crosswalks with "walk"/"don't walk" lights but these are not called "zebra crossings". I'm not sure what they are called.

strassenbahn (imported) wrote: Fri Aug 05, 2005 8:06 am Is it raining (as it often does in the UK)? Harry will be sure to put on his "mack" (abbreviation of mackintosh), a kind of raincoat though often used for any kind,

Kortpeel (imported) wrote: Thu Aug 04, 2005 11:55 am You know, the erudition contained in this topic is going to help a student of 20th century vernacular English get a PhD in a century or two.

I felt my mind whirling even as I read and this is exactly the kind of English I grew up with and speak, more or less to this day.

Slammr, don't worry too much about getting it spot on. I've written a few stories set in the states (darned if I know which one) and no-one complained about the vocabulary. The one mistake I was picked up on was when I called a wrench a spanner - it just slipped past me. So if you have cars in your story remember the hood/bonnet and trunk/boot translations.

Kortpeel

kb57z (imported) wrote: Fri Aug 05, 2005 11:35 am I'm afraid that this isn't quite right.

There are 3 "Lord Fortescues":

- Baron Fortescue of Ousewold Moseley - the former Tory MP and Home Office minister Vaughan Fortescue, who not only voted to bring back hanging, but also introduced the amendment to reintroduce drawing and quartering as well. He was also a proponent of transportation (until the Australians threatened to reciprocate) and still regularly calls for the castration of rapists, shoplifters and people who urinate in public. He was created a life peer in John Major's resignation Honours List.

- Lord Fortescue of Nether Wollop. The judge Sir Archibald Fortescue, QC. He is a "Law Lord" and so is part of the final court of appeal in English Law (very approximately equivalent to a Supreme Court judge.) The "Lord" goes with the job. He is officially apolitical and required to avoid making public statements except as part of a properly-constituted court. He is, however, known to believe that six strokes of the birch would be a most appropriate way to deal with football hooligans, graffiti tag bombers and lady barristers.

Both of the above may be properly known as "Lord Fortescue", unlike the aforementioned Lord William Fortescue, who is the younger son of Albermarle Fortescue, 6th Duke of Penistone. Lord William's title is a 'courtesy' one, and to call him Lord Fortescue would be improper. His wife is properly styled 'Lady William', and their daughter, who merely the granddaughter of a duke, has no title and is plain Miss Sarah Fortescue.

Lord William's sister was known as Lady Matilda Fortescue until her marriage to Burford Cuttinge, the eminent uro-genital surgeon, who specialises in SRS surgery. There is traditionally an amount of inverted snobbery amongst surgeons, who adopt the title 'Mr' to distinguish themselves from mere physicians who call themselves 'Dr'. The Cuttinges are correctly referred to as Mr Burford and Lady Matilda Cuttinge. When Mr Cuttinge inevitably acquired his knighthood (marrying a duke's daughter being a good move in this respect) his wife will be both Lady Cuttinge as a knight's wife and Lady Matilda Cuttinge as a duke's daughter.

Marcus Fortescue, Lord William's elder brother is the Duke's heir. He uses the courtesy title 'Viscount Cockburn' (pronounced 'Coburn'; note no 'of'). His wife is known as Lady Cockburn. There are, as yet no children; this is of some concern as there is no male to inherit the title after the two brothers. (There is a persistent rumour of a childhood accident wth a device for castrating sheep.) I don't think that any child would have a right to a title, although it is possible that they would be styled 'the Honorable'.

The Duke himself, might be referred to as Lord Penistone, although 'the Duke of Penistone' would be more likely outside the rarified circles in which the nobility move. His wife, the Duchess of Penistone, is usually referred to as Lady Penistone.

An Onymus (imported) wrote: Sun Aug 07, 2005 10:17 am One thing which I don't think was mentioned--and is also unlikely to be mentioned in an Archive story--is that, in the UK, when you refer to a "football game," you're not talking about a football game, but about a soccer match. Not sure if a Brit would know what you're talking about, if you made the comment, "he won't get to first base with that idea."

Slammr (imported) wrote: Sun Aug 07, 2005 10:58 am Yes, I've had to remember to avoid baseball terms, such as, "he struck out."

In a story I was witing which was set in the ancient past, I almost used some poker terms like "hole card" and "pat hand," but had to find something else. They wouldn't have fit.

strassenbahn (imported) wrote: Sun Aug 07, 2005 4:43 pm Onthe other hand, if you want to use cricket terminology to describe someone doing something very successfully you can say he "hit it for six", which corresponds fairly closely to a baseball home run.

Kortpeel (imported) wrote: Thu Aug 04, 2005 11:55 am The one mistake I was picked up on was when I called a wrench a spanner - it just slipped past me. So if you have cars in your story remember the hood/bonnet and trunk/boot translations.

Kortpeel