The British Writers Voice in Middletons The Lie of the Land :: Language Culture British Papers

The British Writers Voice in Middletons The Lie of the LandAs I read Hayden Middletons The Lie of the Land, I became increasingly aware that I was not only hearing the writers voice coming through, but that it was a distinctly British writers voice. There were words and phrases that attach the text as being decidedly not American. Yet, as I became accustomed to the writers voice, I became less and less aware of the dialect and simply involved with the story. In reading the story a second time, this time paying special attention to these variances, I was surprised at how many differences there actually were. What follows is a list of the words and phrases I found, on which page of The Lie of the Land I first found them (or, in some cases, where I finally decided that they were a result of a British writers voice rather than just the writers voice), and what I believed would be an acceptable American choice. Where indicated, these American translations were confirmed in the book Unde rstanding British English Bridging the Gap Between the English Language and Its American Counterpart, by Margaret E. Moore (quoted definitions are as found in this resource). In cases where I wasnt sure of the meaning and no translation was provided in Moores book, I consulted Websters Dictionary. Sometimes I had to adventure (these are marked with question marks on either side of the translation). A few times I couldnt even give a fair guess these I left as question marks. At times I also found it difficult to determine whether the choices were due to the author being British, or whether they were simply choices that may have been made regardless of the authors nationality. At those times I was guided by instinct.PAGE British Word/Phrase American Word/Phrase Confirmed? 5 tap faucet yes