Are the UK released Harry Potter books really different from the ones we get in the US?

Question

One of my friends said that we get a sort of "abridged" version. If so, does anyone know where I could order the UK books? Just wondering...

Answer 1

No way.



There are the British-isms that mean completely different things in the US than the UK... in the UK, you'll phrases like "car boot", "take the mickey out of him!", Ron getting a jumper for Christmas, "revising for exams" and other words that translate differently in British English than American English...



"car boot" is a trunk of a car, "taking the mickey out of someone" is making fun of them, a "jumper" is a sweater, "revising" is "studying"



To see the list of every change of the books, see these links:



Book 1

http://www.hp-lexicon.org/about/books/ps/differences-ps.html



Book 2

http://www.hp-lexicon.org/about/books/cs/differences-cs.html



Book 3

http://www.hp-lexicon.org/about/books/pa/differences-pa.html



Book 4

http://www.hp-lexicon.org/about/books/gf/differences-gf.html



Book 5

http://www.hp-lexicon.org/about/books/op/differences-op.html



Book 6

http://www.hp-lexicon.org/about/books/hbp/differences-hbp.html

Answer 2

Abridged means that some of the original text of a book has been altered or removed.



In the case of the Harry Potter books [J.K.Rowling] it is likely that the American version[s] of the books have been abridged to suit a US readership.



While UK and USA do indeed share a common language, there are major differences in usage, even while the words themselves remain 'English'.



For example. When you want to check the engine in your car, you lift the 'hood'. Here in UK we lift the 'bonnet'. Two perfectly ordinary English words which describe head gear or hats.



It gets worse, but don't worry, the UK version of Harry Potter is not going to be in a 'foreign language', it will be English as she is spoke in UK and Ireland.



Try this UK link and see if you can buy a copy on line.



WHSmith.co.uk: On-line retailer with over 1 million Books, 100000 DVDs and CDs and over 450 Magazines



http://www.whsmith.co.uk/whs/go.asp



W.H.Smith is a major high-street and shopping mall book store. Got a shop in every town here in UK.



If you want swear words, as suggested by someone on here, try reading The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer - just about every other words is a four letter expletive.

Answer 3

you can order the UK versions from amazon uk





as for the differences, there does seem to be some difference in page numbering/format/font size and packaging, also some words are changed to give americans a better chance of understanding some bits. Such as when the film was released in america as the Sorcerers Stone, rather than the Philosophers Stone, though that was more down to the movie studio dumbing it down than the publisher.



The links for the books from amazon are -



Adult edition

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0747591067/?yah.007-21



Childrens edition

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0747591059/?yah.007-21

Answer 4

They are basically the same. The US versions have different spellings and grammar. For example in the British versions "Dementor" and "Hippogriff" are capitalized whereas they aren't in the US versions.

Answer 5

Yep you get different spelling and some words r rude to the American public and have to be changed. Try E bay.

Answer 6

The only difference I know about is in their titles - the first was changed from Philosopher`s Stone to Sorcerer`s Stone because Americans are too dumb to know what a Philosopher was.I guess also some of the bigger words were taken out too LOL.

Answer 7

minor differences in language, etc...story is the same though