Harry Potter adopted for American fans

Did you know that the books by British author J.K. Rowling are also 'translated' into American English?

Editor Arthur Levine, together with Emma Matthewson, the editor at Bloomsburry Publishing, is in charge of adopting Rowling's British-isms for the American market - because "words don't always mean the same thing on both sides of the Atlantic."

Although he aims at preserving the Britishness of the novels some of Rowling's expressions need to be altered so they are understood by the American audience. "In the most recent book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Rowling has Harry and his friends preparing - or 'revising' - for the O.W.L. exams at their school. In British terminology, that means they were reviewing their notes, not correcting old essays. To make her meaning clear for the U.S. version, Rowling substituted 'review' or 'study' whenever 'revise' appeared."

Source: South Bend Tribune