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#11
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The dialog was interesting, to the extent that you didn't have to pull out a dictionary, but have to hold to what I've heard and what I've said. 'Wide vocabulary' and 'wide lexicon' sound silly to me. I may be tempted, though, to say that I need to widen my vocabulary. But, then again, I'd much rather broaden, extend or augment it.
You know what? We're talking about whether we'd choose words with Latin roots or words with Dutch roots. So, I guess it all depends on which side of England your family came from. |
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#12
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Ha-ha... that broadens my viewpoint... and got a wide smile on my face...
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Lo propio de la verdad es que se basta a sí misma, aquel que la posee no intenta convencer a nadie. "An enemy is somebody who flatters you. A friend is somebody who criticizes the living daylights out of you." |
#13
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As a general comment, I have suddenly become aware of lots of interesting minor differences in BrE and AmE vocabulary. I use Skype to practice Spanish with a woman who is practising English. I read Harry Potter in Spanish in 5-minute chunks, and she reads the same passage in English. It just so happens that her English version is the original BrE English, whereas I have the American 'translation'. So when she reads hers and I'm following it in the American translation. The differences are really surprising but not so obvious because nothing is actually incomprehensible. Generally, the American version seems very coy when there is sexual innuendo on a harmless level. On the other hand, I've just come across the passage where a girl says BrE "It's very hard to go to the toilet when she's in there" AmE "It's very hard to have a pee when she's in there" Last edited by Perikles; October 10, 2013 at 04:13 AM. |
#14
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The real AmE version would match the BrE version of the sentence with one change - 'toilet' would be 'bathroom' or 'restroom'. There are more vulgar ways to render the sentence, however. |
#15
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One amusing difference is the title of the first book: In BrE it's The Philosopher's Stone but the AmE version has The Sorcerer's Stone. I am told by an American friend that this is pure marketing; anything connected with philosophy is judged to be boring in the USA, so nobody would buy it with the original title. |
#16
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I'm with Rusty on all the statements. We would never use "wide" for vocabulary. I have a "broad" vocabulary is how I would describe what Perikles mentioned. But in general, "large" or "extensive" are the common ways to express it.
The AmE version of the Harry Potter is definitely not how we would say it in America. But then again, it is really not supposed to take place in America, so I don't understand why they needed to make the change. Maybe it makes it feel "more British" than regular British? |
#17
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#18
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Wow... this whole thing is very interesting to me. I normally translate English into Castilian Spanish, and my co-worker does the "Latino American" version... We try to go for a "neutral" style, so we don't have to change a hell of a lot...
Anyhow... I have to go... but I'll try to come back to this...
__________________
Lo propio de la verdad es que se basta a sí misma, aquel que la posee no intenta convencer a nadie. "An enemy is somebody who flatters you. A friend is somebody who criticizes the living daylights out of you." |
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