Hence, this post is aimed at Americans attempting to impersonate a British* person of some sort when they write Harry Potter fic.
I wrote in my previous post that we non-British HP fic writers must choose whether to write in British English or in our native English when it comes to spelling and punctuation conventions (I do the former), but even fic authors who chose the latter presumably want to immerse readers in the Harry Potter world. So they have to pay attention to what is known, in the fandom, as Britpickery.
What this means, on a practical level, is using British terminology, slang, and syntax when writing the British characters in HP.
I am no expert: I’ve never lived in the UK, and I’ve only visited the sceptred isle once and for a short time. I am not going to try to tell you what is “British” and “not British.”
What I am attempting to do is alert you to things you might want to think about when you, a distinctly non-British person, are writing Harry Potter (or other Britain-based) fic.
The ideal is, of course, to have at one’s disposal An Actual British Person, preferably several—from the various backgrounds you hope to impart to your characters—to do your Britpickery.
Failling that, you are going to have to do some painstaking research if you want your work to sound even vaguely authentic.
We Yanks have an unfortunate (and unfortunately earned) reputation for believing that the entire world revolves around us and our culture; hence, we tend to ignore the fact that speech, mores, and customs can be vastly different, even between lands separated by a common language.
This, then, is a discussion of things I use when I’m attempting to make my HP fic sound less glaringly American.
Of course, “British English” is a broad term—it ecompasses numerous dialects, accents, and idoms, from Received Pronunciation (RP—what movie-Harry and -Hermione speak), to Estuary English (Ron), to West Country English (Hagrid), to Yorkshire English (Neville) and much, much more.
In your writing, you will also likely have characters that speak other varieties of English, such Irish, Scottish, and Welsh English, and some who speak English as used in British overseas territories like Bermuda, and former British colonies such as the United States, Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, and South Africa (to name a few). And these will in turn have their own sets of dialects and accents, etc.
As authors, we would do well to keep this in mind and to tailor our language choices as specifically as we can, without resorting to potentially offensive sterotypes like the dreadful phonetic spelling that Rowling used to tell us (as if we couldn’t figure it out) that Fleur and Madame Maxime are (generically) French. Often, the best choice is to use idiom and syntax to show a character’s background.
For example, some folks from Yorkshire might say “she were” rather than “she was.” Or some characters might refer to the evening meal as dinner, others as tea, and still others as supper, depending on their region and sometimes their socioeconomic class. Google and YouTube are your friends here.
It ain’t easy, and most of us (me especially) get it wrong a lot of the time. That said, here are a few suggestions for getting it right when you can.
Since the Harry Potter series is set in Britain, I’ll focus on general British English here.
If you’re using British spelling in your fic, you may be able to use your word processing program to set your proofreading language to British/UK spelling. (In Word’s Review tab, the option is in the Language section. I don’t use Google Docs, but I’m told you can use UK English spellcheck there too.)
But beware: British-language proofing isn’t a substitute for careful review by a human (you!) It won’t catch words that mean different things in British and other Englishes.
That said, here are some of the most basic spelling differences (there are many exceptions; as always, check your favorite/favourite dictionary to confirm correct spelling):
Word Type | American Spelling | British Spelling |
Greek- and Latin-derived e / oe / ae | anemia, diarrhea, encyclopedia | anaemia, diarrhoea, encyclopaedia |
past participle -ed of certain words | burned, dreamed, leaped | burnt, dreamt, leapt |
suffix -ense / -ence | defense, offense, license | defence, offence, licence |
final -l / -ll before -ed, -ing, -est, -er, -or | canceled, traveling, cruelest, traveler, counselor | cancelled, travelling, cruellest, traveller, counsellor |
suffix -ize / -yze or -ise / -yse | organize, analyze, appetizer | either suffix is acceptable, but be consistent: organize, analyze, appetizer OR organise, analyse, appetiser |
suffix -og / -ogue | analog, dialog, catalog OR analogue, dialogue, catalogue | analogue, dialogue, catalogue |
-or / -our endings | color, humor, neighbor | colour, humour, neighbour |
-er / -re endings | center, meter, theater | centre, metre, theatre |
There are lots of words and phrases that speakers of British English use that speakers of American English don’t, and vice-versa. Some are only a little different (e.g., a different spelling or suffix), others are completely different. There are also words that are used by both but which mean different things in each variety of English.
I’ve created a list of such words and phrases for quick reference when I’m editing my work, and I have the more commonly occurring of these programmed into PerfectIt (my copyediting software)—it flags them in my manuscript as potential Americanisms for me to check.
These are simply the things I’ve encountered; there are, of course, zillions more. My list is divided into five sections, which helps me narrow down what I’m looking for in context:
If you’d like to use my list as a basis for your own, you can download it below.
In a future post, I’ll talk about some of the cultural things that have tripped me up as an American attempting to impersonate a British person when writing.
Meanwhile, have some links to helpful language resources:
(Includes some Scottish stuff, since I write a lot of Minerva McGonagall.)
Glossary of British terms not widely used in the United States
American and British English spelling differences
Comparison of American and British English
Dictionary.com’s Differences Between British English and American English
British Council’s Differences between British and American English
The Cranky Bint’s Guide To Brit-Picking
Reference Guide to Writing Harry Potter Fanfiction
A Dictionary of English Slang & Colloquialisms
A Beginners Course in Scottish Slang
Scottish Slang 1.0 (The Ultimate Guide to Help You Blend in North of the Border)
Famous Scottish Slang Words You Need to Know to Speak Like a True Scot
CUBE Dictionary (online pronunciation dictionary of British English)
“British-isms:” the NameShouts Guide to British expressions and phrases
Separated by a Common Language
Forms of address in the United Kingdom
British English Q&A for Harry Potter Fandom
*Please note that British can mean different things in different contexts (see “Terminology of the British Isles”) for a more detailed explanation); here, I am using it to describe language as spoken by inhabitants of the British Isles.
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