Young Writers Society

I'm proud of my heritage as much as the next person and I do not want to incite any discrimination here...

I just reckon there is definite difference between how English people and American people write. I love both for different reasons but 9 times out of ten you can whether they are from the UK or US. There are obvious differences in terms of place names and differences in dialect etc., but there is something about the style as well....

Does anyone else agree or am I just being weird? Lol

Olivia
xxx

I do agree that they're different. Whether one is better than the other is an argument I don't want to start on (and would be entirely pointless, as well, as it's entirely subjective, and no one would win). As you say, there are good and bad writers on both sides of the pond.

I don't want to initiate a war lol....I adore both types myself...they both have so many positive points but there is a definite distinction

Whether it is the vocab or the phrasing or both

xxx

A giveaway that I've noticed is when in historical novels set in England, the authors refer to the "sidewalk" and "trash".

Being English I don't think I've ever said sidewalk or trash...feels werid to say them but I'm used to hearing them

xxx

heehee, sidewalk and trash. What's the other word for sidewalk?

I had a thrill in American Literature, and I'm sure it will be just as fun in Brit Lit, and despite the differences, I don't see a difference in style. I'm not sure it matters where the author is from because everyone will write differently. It will affect the writer's environment, which could play a roll in their style, but one American has a style different than another American, just as one English person will have a different style than another. I personally think Evelyn Waugh is better than Aldous Huxley, but that's just me. (I'm not even sure you can compare them...haha.) I also think that Willa Cather is amazing, but Kate Chopin makes me want to hurl. It doesn't matter where a writer is from for me, if it's well written and I enjoy it, that is that.

Dialect is just regional. Try reading a book about the US south. It's fun!

PAVEMENT!

It seems such a silly word now....

xxx

The pave meant well.... (Bad joke) xD

I usually can tell when I'm reading a British author instead of an American, before even flipping to the back to see where the author was born. I'm not entirely sure why - it's not because of quality or concept - I think it's the words they use. Americans tend to use certain words more, and then the Brits have their words.

I wish there was a list on what word differences there are between Amer. and Brit. writers. I'm sure there is. This requires a search!

How about we start our own?

Sounds like fun! So so far we have

Sidewalk = Pavement
Trash = Rubbish

There is also

Trash can = Bin
Pants = Trousers

I'm shocking myself by not being able to think of anymore!

Spellings another thing

color = colour
favorite = favourite
etc...do these count?

xxx

Underwear = Pants
Pants = Trousers

Yeah. Got in to some trouble with that one.

Steakhouse = What?

Yeah. The deprived English people don't have steakhouses

In Australia we tend to follow the English tradition more than the American, but we also have our own way of writing.

I'm not sure if the same goes for you English, but there's a quite troublesome breakdown in communication between us and the Americans. For example, a pair of sandals, as you might call them, would be referred to here as a pair of thongs. Now, imagine an Australian teacher in a Catholic boys school in the USA telling the boys they can all wear their thongs to the beach when they go there for their class trip. I can tell you that this has happened at least once.

And one more for the list:

Elevator = Lift. For some odd reason, but are widely used here.

OK, the thong thing is just scary. We call sandles either "Sandles" or "Flip-flops", depending on the type.

I was reading an Australian books and I noticed instead of sweater they always said jumper - I think that was it.

Maybe I'm remembering wrong.

They also said the thongs thing. So... what do they call REAL thongs?

I say jumper!!!!!!!!!!!

xxx

So a jumper IS a sweater? Makes me think of jumpsuit. And then I get confused.

What other words?