Getting Malcolm right: British vs American English

[Kotik]

Normally one would think it is a tad preposterous for me to give advice to native speakers, but I think I have a good outsiders view on the subtle differences between her Majesty's and American variants of the language. Since I prefer British English, I find it easier to write Malcolm, while having to put more effort into getting just about anyone else right. I've seen several very well written stories, which suffered from Malcolm sounding a bit off, because he used too many American phrases, so I've assembled a list of the resources I usually use, when scrutinizing my Malcolm lines.

Wikipedia: American and British English differences
The article is a bit messy, but contains a lot of useful pointers about grammar and word choice differences.

British-American dictionary
A list of word and phrase differences with additional comments from Canadian and Australian perspectives too.

About.com: ESL
A list of commonly confused words between American and British English

Wikipedia: Spelling differences between British and American English

I hope it helps someone out there.

[Skywalker]

What about British spelling versus American spelling? It would be awkward if you're writing from an American perspective and you suddenly switched to using 'honour' instead of 'honor,' 'civilised' instead of 'civilized,' etc. Having Malcolm use British phrases and mannerisms when he speaks is one thing, but IMO if you're using American spelling for the rest of your story you should still use American spelling for Malcolm's dialogue.

[Glory1863]

I think the resources could be very helpful. Certainly, they're a lot faster to use than picking things up by watching PBS for umpteen years. I had to laugh at one of the comments, though, that they didn't even want to get into the different words for the school systems. Yeah, that's one thing I don't get beyond "public" and "private" schools mean exactly the opposite. Come to think of it, the British "caution" may also be the exact opposite of the American "Miranda warning", although I need to watch more Mystery to be sure.

[Aquarius]

Regarding the spelling question, for our standards here, it should be consistent throughout the whole fic. You don't just use American spellings for American characters and British spellings for Malcolm. On occasion, for our authors who are accustomed to writing British English, we have allowed British conventions to be used, as long as the entire fic is consistently done the same way throughout.

On the other hand, just like with spelling out Trip's accent, you don't want to go overboard with some of this other stuff just for the sake of making Malcolm "more British." I can't think of too many times when Malcolm's used British idioms, so I would question a fic where they seem conspicuously present. (Natch, I qualify that statement by saying that I've watched PBS and BBC America for years, so it's possible I'm so used to it I don't notice it as much any more. ) To me, that would be like Archer asking Trip when the engines are coming back online and having Trip answer something ridiculous like, "Don't you pay no nevermind, Cap'n. Ai'll get this sonomabitch runnin' faster'n a pissed off gator in no time a-tall."

[Glory1863]

To me, that would be like Archer asking Trip when the engines are coming back online and having Trip answer something ridiculous like, "Don't you pay no nevermind, Cap'n. Ai'll get this sonomabitch runnin' faster'n a pissed off gator in no time a-tall."

But you know he'd like to, especially if it's the third time Jon's asked in about 5 minutes.

[panyasan]

I was taught the Britisch English and my writing reflects that. Luckily, my beta's are mostly Americans, so they help me to get the accent of Trip and Jon right.

For some reasons, I just dislike the use of "ya". Problably because I was so drilled to use "you". In my own language you always put the other person first and yourself the last. So you would write: Jonathan and me. In English you write: me and Jonathan. For some reason I find this a bit rude when I write that way, but as my beta says "me and Jonathan" I just follow the beta's lead.

Any way, writing fan fic have teach me that you have different spellings in British English and American English. I also learned a lot of words! And I always put my spelling control on "American English". Somehow I find American English more fitting with a Star Trek story.

[THE Rigil Kent]

This is why I watch so much BBC America.

Interestingly enough, even though I'm totally American and write in American English, there are times when I use the British spelling for simple aesthetics. "Armoury," for example, just looks better than "Armory" even though they're the same thing.

[EntAllat]

Interestingly enough, even though I'm totally American and write in American English, there are times when I use the British spelling for simple aesthetics. "Armoury," for example, just looks better than "Armory" even though they're the same thing.

Agreed! I like the British spelling much better and I've had to add it to my spell checker so I can quit saying "ignore" when I do a check.

[THE Rigil Kent]

Sometimes, you just need to stick a U in there.

[lfvoy]

In my own language you always put the other person first and yourself the last. So you would write: Jonathan and me. In English you write: me and Jonathan. For some reason I find this a bit rude when I write that way, but as my beta says "me and Jonathan" I just follow the beta's lead.

No offense to your betas, but that's not right. My English-teacher mother would NEVER let me get away with "me and Jonathan." The way it is done in your language is also the way it should be done in English (at least the American variety).

In fact, I will correct my friends when they use that construction in their own speech. That's because it is indeed rude in addition to grammatically incorrect. It also, when combined with a Southern accent like mine, smacks of being uneducated.