Harry Potter and the English Language
I recently finished the last installment of the Harry Potter series. I read the first four books in German, the American version of the 5th and 7th and the UK version of the 6th book. It was interesting to compare the UK to the American version. Although not the same books, I could clearly tell that the American editors had changed some of the British slang that Americans may not be familiar with. It got me thinking if there is not some treasure to be found in the editing, for some innocent British English phrases may be not so innocent in American English. And some may just be hilarious phrases in general. And sure enough, below are some of my favorites, courtesy of the Harry Potter Lexicon:
3rd Book
UK: “pop my clogs” (85); US: “kick the bucket” (110)
UK: “cracker hats” (170); US: “party hats” (230)
UK: “do his nut” (189); US: “go ballistic” (255)
4th Book
UK: “peckers up” (205); US: “spirits up” (227)
5th book
UK: “I got off with McLaggen” (264); US: “I hooked up with McLaggen” (282)
