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Book that translates American English to British..


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I've just been reminded how important it is to put the British words and British spellings in my keywords. I would love to have a book next to my computer so I could refer to it as I work. I'm sure I often miss words and alternate spellings. Does anyone know of such a book?

 

Paulette

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No book (I do see the usefulness of that) but my list of links:

British Slang Dictionary - http://www.translatebritish.com/dictionary.php
Dont let the word slang fool you: it has a useful translating tool:
British to American Translator - http://www.translatebritish.com/

Selected Vocabulary Differences Between British and American English -
http://www15.uta.fi/FAST/US1/REF/usgbdiff.html

List of words having different meanings in American and British English: A–L -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_words_having_different_meanings_in_American_and_British_English:_A–L

List of words having different meanings in American and British English: M–Z -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_words_having_different_meanings_in_American_and_British_English:_M–Z

Oxford Dictionaries - British and American spelling -
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/words/british-and-american-spelling

writeandgood - Results-driven writing - American vs. British Words
http://writeandgood.com/american-vs-british-words/

Wikipedia British English - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_English
Wikipedia American English - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_English
Wikipedia Comparison of American and British English - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_American_and_British_English
Wikipedia List of American words not widely used in the United Kingdom - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_words_not_widely_used_in_the_United_Kingdom
Wikipedia List of British words not widely used in the United States - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_British_words_not_widely_used_in_the_United_States

Mencken - American and English Today - The Two Vocabularies - http://www.bartleby.com/185/18.html

The **COMPLETE** us & uk confusions - http://www.netfunny.com/rhf/jokes/95q4/uk.html
British Slang Dictionary - http://www.translatebritish.com/dictionary.php
http://www.translatebritish.com/


wim

edit: bugger, all the links that are self explanatory are being cut off by the boards well-meaning software.
No worries I'll get them for you in the next edit.

edit2: links written out. Some software is like a camera, aagh. Let me do the thinking please. You just handle the mechanics ok.

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Wow! Thank you so much. I'm still going to look for a book as I am old-fashioned and don't always love going online for information. I reserve the right to change my mind, of course. I could keep my Macbook Air next to me as I work. I will explore your links.

 

Paulette

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You're welcome!

 

The Slang translating tool has a American to British Translator as well, it's called: reverse translation http://www.translatebritish.com/reverse.php

 

Dictionary.com usually (but not always) has both British and American uses or equivalents: http://dictionary.reference.com/

Before their makeover I used answers.com a lot. About.com still has a us-uk dictionary somewhere.

Just changing spelling -harbor-harbour- is easy enough using your browser, but you have still to put in the corrections yourself, so here's an online tool:

It is a bit simple but it works with a complete set of keywords. It will not find truck-lorry.

 

wim

 

edit: typo

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You're welcome!

 

The Slang translating tool has a American to British Translator as well, it's called: reverse translation http://www.translatebritish.com/reverse.php

 

Dictionary.com usually (but not always) has both British and American uses or equivalents: http://dictionary.reference.com/

Before their makeover I used answers.com a lot. About.com still has a us-uk dictionary somewhere.

Just changing spelling -harbor-harbour- is easy enough using your browser, but you have still to put in the corrections yourself, so here's an online tool:

It is a bit simple but it works with a complete set of keywords. It will not find truck-lorry.

 

wim

 

edit: typo

 

"Online tool" doesn't seem to be there? I'm thinking now maybe I'll explore all these options and put bookmarks on my iPad -- which is almost as good as having a book next to me. Thanks for all the help.

 

Paulette

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My question is which form of English does Alamy want us to use? 

 

A search of 'colour' bring up 2,864,333.

 

A search for 'color' brings up 6,243,316.

 

So using both spellings in the keywords seems to be the way to go. But then there are words like 'eggplant' where most Brits use 'aubergine,' the French, as they do for many vegetables. I've given myself a headache. 

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My question is which form of English does Alamy want us to use? 

 

A search of 'colour' bring up 2,864,333.

 

A search for 'color' brings up 6,243,316.

 

So using both spellings in the keywords seems to be the way to go. But then there are words like 'eggplant' where most Brits use 'aubergine,' the French, as they do for many vegetables. I've given myself a headache. 

 

Way to go, eh!

 

I always use both spellings (Brit and US), but then as a typical Canadian I'm permanently confused about spelling and units of measurement.

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My question is which form of English does Alamy want us to use? 

 

A search of 'colour' bring up 2,864,333.

 

A search for 'color' brings up 6,243,316.

 

So using both spellings in the keywords seems to be the way to go. But then there are words like 'eggplant' where most Brits use 'aubergine,' the French, as they do for many vegetables. I've given myself a headache. 

 

Don't think of Alamy. Think of your clients. So your tool of choice should be AoA.

What spelling do people in Switzerland, Oceania, Singapore, Germany, Brazil, Japan, Sweden, Latvia, Norway, Taiwan, Finland, Middle East, South Africa, Estonia, Italy, Netherlands, India and the Slovak Republic use?

(all from last years sales)

 

wim

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You're welcome!

 

The Slang translating tool has a American to British Translator as well, it's called: reverse translation http://www.translatebritish.com/reverse.php

 

Dictionary.com usually (but not always) has both British and American uses or equivalents: http://dictionary.reference.com/

Before their makeover I used answers.com a lot. About.com still has a us-uk dictionary somewhere.

Just changing spelling -harbor-harbour- is easy enough using your browser, but you have still to put in the corrections yourself, so here's an online tool:

It is a bit simple but it works with a complete set of keywords. It will not find truck-lorry.

 

wim

 

edit: typo

 

"Online tool" doesn't seem to be there? I'm thinking now maybe I'll explore all these options and put bookmarks on my iPad -- which is almost as good as having a book next to me. Thanks for all the help.

 

Paulette

 

 

It's the box with (at this moment) some obscenity in it. I wonder if it remembers the last thing someone has used it for? You just type in the word or phrase an click translate.

http://www.translatebritish.com/reverse.php

 

wim

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My question is which form of English does Alamy want us to use? 

 

A search of 'colour' bring up 2,864,333.

 

A search for 'color' brings up 6,243,316.

 

So using both spellings in the keywords seems to be the way to go. But then there are words like 'eggplant' where most Brits use 'aubergine,' the French, as they do for many vegetables. I've given myself a headache. 

 

Don't think of Alamy. Think of your clients. So your tool of choice should be AoA.

What spelling do people in Switzerland, Oceania, Singapore, Germany, Brazil, Japan, Sweden, Latvia, Norway, Taiwan, Finland, Middle East, South Africa, Estonia, Italy, Netherlands, India and the Slovak Republic use?

(all from last years sales)

 

wim

 

 

Most cryptic. But I don't deal with clients. I deal with Alamy. Like the airline industry, the stock industry is conducted in English. As you know, I'm American born with two passports and I've lived in the UK. There simply aren't that many English words with variable spellings. This is not a real issue. 

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Edo,

 

Cryptic? AoA maybe. AoA= All of Alamy all the searches clients have done on Alamy for the current running year?

I don't think it's an issue in general. Just for me it's difficult.

 

Organise or organize? My spell checker says organize. So I try to keep a small list of words I regularly use. But to use keywords regularly on Alamy means killing one's rank. It may pay off to be less organized. That rather suits me ;-)

 

wim

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"Organize" is the preferred spelling, but both are correct. There are a number of words in English that have two correct spellings. In the UK they use the "s" I believe.

 

I was diagnosed at age 9 as being dyslectic (did I spell that right?). A nightmare. At some point I found that I could teach myself the things that matter. 

 

I find your use of English, wim, to be amazing, as is Philippe's and several others who have English as a second or third language. My Italian sounds good but my vocabulary is just enough to order a pizza but not to name the toppings. 

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"Organize" is the preferred spelling, but both are correct. There are a number of words in English that have two correct spellings. I was diagnosed at age 9 as being dyslectic (did I spell that right?). A nightmare. At some point I found that I could teach myself the things that matter. 

 

I find your use of English, wim, to be amazing, as is Philippe's and several others who have English as a second or third language. My Italian sounds good but my vocabulary is just enough to order a pizza but not to name the toppings. 

 

Thank you!

 

How do you know it's not just all Google Translate? Maybe I'm actually typing all this in Dutch.

 

Hey let's test that:

But how do you know it's not all just translate? Maybe I type this really just in dutch.

 

Wow.

Why does Google not include its own name?

I may start using Google translate for keywording.

I do feel I need to keep up the routine though. And I suspect Google may be a lot less chaotic than I am.

 

My two beers please in all kind of languages usually produces two beers in all kind of countries. Even when I say two cervezas por favor in Italy  ;-)

 

wim

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Google Translate is pretty amazing . . . but being right-brained I'm intuitive, so I know you are writing in English.  ;)

 

Italian and Spanish are the closest of the Romance languages. I've been on a half-dozen shoots in South America, and when I begin I speak simple Italian or English. As I move down the continent I pick up some Spanish at every stop. By the time I hit Buenos Aires I'm using more Spanish than Italian . . . than of course I move into Brazil. Sadly, the Spanish doesn't stay with me.

 

And yes, I too can get myself a beer wherever in the world I am. By the way, I can say 'thank you' in 41 languages. 

 

Edo

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It's dyslexic, Edo, and I second your compliment to wim, Philippe, and others whose English is so fluent I forgot it's not their native language.

- Ann

 

 

"Organize" is the preferred spelling, but both are correct. There are a number of words in English that have two correct spellings. In the UK they use the "s" I believe.

 

I was diagnosed at age 9 as being dyslectic (did I spell that right?). A nightmare. At some point I found that I could teach myself the things that matter. 

 

I find your use of English, wim, to be amazing, as is Philippe's and several others who have English as a second or third language. My Italian sounds good but my vocabulary is just enough to order a pizza but not to name the toppings.

 

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Thanks, Ann (I knew I was close when I got the D). It's hard to explain how dyslexia works (or doesn't work). Each case is somewhat different. I take six pills every morning, but I can't tell you the name of a single one. Yet I can say 'thank you' in 41 languages. And I have worked as a writer and as a copy editor. Strange? Very strange. 

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The real challenge for Yanks in the UK is when we have to bring a car in for a checkup -- every piece and part has a different name.  :)

You mean a service?

 

 

:lol:  :)

 

And yes, Ed - I agree about the need to turn on the subtitles for many Aussie films. In fact, I also sometimes need it for some American and British films.

 

Regarding the keywords on Alamy I try to include the common British and American spellings - and different words - if I am aware of them. The normal spelling of organize is organise in the UK - except for the Oxford Dictionary which is still sticking to the ancient British and modern American spelling  (as far as I know, otherwise please enlighten me) -which still may be the most used dictionary by students abroad.

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