I'm right with you Am -- and it does go both ways, not to mention the problems with regionalisms used wrong, historically appropriate vocabulary, and so on. People writing in worlds they're not familiar with. Which is fine, but get a beta.

I'm sure Britishisms in American fandoms are as annoying to Americans, but I don't notice those.

One of the better CSI writers out there (elfin--she wrote an incredible fic that crosses over with the Silence of the Lambs universe) doesn't catch all of her Britishisms. This was only distracting when she referred to a male character putting on a "jumper," which in U.S.ian terms, is a sort of sleeveless dress that invariably makes one look pregnant.

And another one-- gotten. Clark says gotten, fine. Lex says gotten, fine. Harry Potter, on the other hand, does not say gotten. He doesn't even *think* gotten. This story is rapidly losing me because of that...

makes note to listen very carefully when beta says 'this is not right'

Probably serial...

This was only distracting when she referred to a male character putting on a "jumper," which in U.S.ian terms, is a sort of sleeveless dress that invariably makes one look pregnant.

What is USian for a jumper, then? Sweater?

Yep, sweater.

What is USian for a jumper, then? Sweater?

Yes. I was able to overlook most of her Britishisms (which tended to be the sorts of words or phrases that she might not have realized were unique to British English), but this one knocked me out of the story for a minute or two. Fortunately, it was easy to get back into the flow of things.

Right, thanks. I'm suddenly in a mood to check every word in my current Smallville story, just in case there's something in there that would annoy other people as much.

Right. I'm suddenly in a mood to check every word in my current Smallville story, just in case there's something in there that would annoy other people as much.

Nah. That's the sort of thing a U.S. beta would be able to do without nearly as much soul-searching and second-guessing oneself.

I think it's often a double-standard in fandom -- Brits bemoan American negligence, and often don't realize (realise!) that the same thing applies in reverse. We used to have delightfully funny and informative conversations about these things with Fay, in Natter mostly. "Pants are trousers?" "What on earth is a vest, Fay?"

I mean, I've totally been guilty of not paying close enough attention to the language, but if I wanted to write Harry Potter fic, I would certainly seek help from a British-type-person before posting it.

Mostly because I do not need more people up my ass, but hey...

A more extreme version of this phenomenon shows up in anime fandom. Some fans are hyper-aware of the shows' Japanese origins, to the point where their fics are larded with Japanese words or phrases when it's totally not necessary for the plot. Entire conversations may even be in Japanese. It's gotten to the point where some fics have footnotes and glossaries. Even worse, many of these people who are trying to "sound authentic" have a piss-poor grasp of Japanese grammar (or so I've heard--I don't know Japanese).

Personally, I think that sort of behavior is the worst kind of pseudo-intellectual arrogance.