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Title: Understanding British English: Bridging the Gap Between the English Language and Its American Counterpart by Margaret E. Moore ISBN: 0-8065-1939-8 Publisher: Citadel Trade Pub. Date: February, 1998 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.95

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Average Customer Rating: 3.83 (6 reviews)

Rating: 4
Summary: very good, though wee bit dated
Comment: The copyright is beginning to show wear on this one, dating it poorly, but still useful for the writer. Just beware, many of the terms are either off the mark or just not used in today's UK. I have so many friends on both sides, that I like to give these as gifts and have yet to see the perfect one. Most have good sections that made me think them worth buying, but none never a 5 star. So it is with this one. It has a fun section for cockney at the back and even has a few Aussie terms tossed in to boot.

Just wish someone would come up with a REALLY GOOD ONE!!

Rating: 5
Summary: No havering here
Comment: Margaret Moore's guide, 'Understanding British English: Bridging the Gap between the English Language and its American Counterpart' is an interesting, dictionary-style work which seeks to explain thousands of phrases which, while using words readily recognised by Americans, have a meaning or assumed context in British English (or other British variants, such as Australian or New Zealand England) that make the meaning quite different.

Many people are aware vaguely that there are different words for cigarettes or for falling ill in Britain that would give a quite different connotation. Using the slang terms from Britain would obviously be interpreted in a much different way in America.

Moore, in her forward, says that ever since Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown in 1781, the British have had to make up for wounded pride, and that one of the best ways to do this has been poking fun at their former colonists' language while continuing to change their own.

While many words are familiar thanks to the relative success of the British mystery novel and various British films and shows (particularly on PBS), there is still a gap, especially of slang and common speech. American audiences will be familiar with boot and bonnet as ends of an automobile, but observe the subtle confusion of the following exchange I observed some years ago:

American: I'll call later, then.
Briton: Well, it would be best if you rang before you called.
American:

A very simple divergence of meaning -- Americans are familiar with the phrase 'to call upon' as meaning going somewhere, as opposed to telephoning, but the assumption that 'to call' means to telephone is American; British tend to use 'to ring'.

To say, 'I'm bushed' in America would mean 'I'm tired', but in Australian would likely mean 'I'm confused', or even 'I'm lost' (as in, out in the bush).

So, don't be cack-handed when using the language, and fall into a caddle. If you want to be sure of what's being said when someone asks you to play Noughts and crosses, asks if you are an OAP, needs to spend a penny, or is doing a real send up to set the Thames on fire, this is the book for you.

Moore has included a section on rhyming slang near the back, but as this is such a fluid part of the language, much of it is now dated. However, it is still interesting, and some of the expressions are still all harbour (i.e., all right). Rhyming slang was devised by the Cockney workers to befuddle Irish immigrants. One needs to find a phrase with a concluding word that rhymes with the word you want to use, and then use the first word of the phrase. A subtle and rather ingenious invention, actually.

Once again, the context becomes critical, for how is an American (or indeed, even a non-Cockney Briton) to know the context assumed by those using the rhyming slang to know which words have been joined and then substituted? Perhaps rhyming slang could be used as part of military coding?

This book represents fascinating linguistic and historical changes in the common language we share with much of the world.

Rating: 2
Summary: Old fashioned reference for the American-English speaker.
Comment: Has some good references for anyone who requires a translation of what can only be considered as 'Old English' into American-English. It is now very outdated with many of the phrases listed not having been used for 50 years or more. These phrases would only be useful to translate the black and white films of the 40s and 50s. The foreward and introduction have obviously been written by someone who has no idea of what a Country is or have inaccurate references to the point of almost being insulting to a native of Briton. Many of the listed words and phrases are also inaccurate. For some reason there are a few Australian-English phrases and words that have been added although they really should be the subject of a further book.

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