Extensa

[Rusty]

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.

[JPablo]

Ha-ha... that broadens my viewpoint... and got a wide smile on my face...

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by Rusty

We use 'extensive', not wide, when referring to vocabulary. 'Large' is also used.

I've now woken up, and can confirm that we do use 'wide' for vocabulary in the UK. Well, I do. It implies that the vocabulary covers a wide range of topics, a general vocabulary to cover all situations. A large vocabulary (to me) would not have quite the same implication. An expert in some obscure field might have a large vocabulary in that field, but not necessarily a wide one generally. I would say that 'wide' and 'extensive' were interchangeable.

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"

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by Perikles

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"

This is very interesting. I don't think I'd ever say or hear the AmE version in America. That's NOT American English. It looks like it is how we would imagine it's said in England. It sounds "British" to a speaker of American English.

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.

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by Rusty

This is very interesting. I don't think I'd ever say or hear the AmE version in America. That's NOT American English. It looks like it is how we would imagine it's said in England. It sounds "British" to a speaker of American English.

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.

Of course, this is a book intended to be read by children, so they are careful not to put anything that a parent might disapprove of. I can't judge whether there is an intention to make things sound English, just that an attempt is made at clarity, changing obvious differences such as 'football' to 'soccer' and many more.

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.

[Awaken]

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?

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by Awaken

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?

I've no idea - both expressions are common in BrE, so I don't know why they changed one for the other.

[JPablo]

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...