Not quite. Americans didn't know what the "philosopher's stone" is.

And that's the only title that has been changed.

I get my HP books from the UK and over time the amount of "translation" the American edition has in it, has fallen from book to book. The one thing most Americans won't "get" is how much Rowling is borrowing from the British muggle world -- eg Spellotape vs Sellotape.

I'd like to see some valid evidence produced to prove this (idiotic )statement.

There are several interpretations, Leslie. This is only a time killing forum and not a court of law, so I'm not going to spend hours backing up my "statements" when this will be forgotten about and lost on page 7 by next week.

Some things I scanned though:

Wikipedia: "Both the book and the motion picture were released in the United States with the title Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, citing the reason that most Americans in the target age group would not be as interested in something containing the word "philosopher" as they would "sorcerer", thus hurting sales."

JK Rowling's website: "Both the book and the motion picture were released in the United States with the title Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, citing the reason that most Americans in the target age group would not be as interested in something containing the word "philosopher" as they would "sorcerer", thus hurting sales."

Not being interested in something is not the same thing as not comprehending what it means, which is what you said previously.



~SecretGarden

Either way, it's ignorance. Supermarkets, books, TV shows, films...it pisses me off how everything has to be Americanized before these thick masses will give anything a look. Only in America could 'The Last Samurai' be a white American from California!

American companies opening offices/stores in the UK do exactly the same thing - test market and use whatever name/title is the most appealing to Europeans. Or were you not aware that market strategies are used globally - not just in the US?

The Last Samurai was fiction/fantasy ..... that means it isn't true - it's just pretend. Americans are mighty thick (there are big words coming up soon - so everybody put on their crash helmets) but even we are aware that Tom Cruise is not really a S-a-m-u-r-a-i ... as a matter of fact he is a S-c-i-e-n-t-o-l-o-g-i-s-t.... neither of which should be confused with a S-o-r-c-e-r-e-r.

Well done!

Did you miss out what I said about the HP books becoming less and less "Americanised" over time? The most recent book has little more than the usual spelling changes (colour/color). Even esoterica like chipolatas stay in, and HP fans take pleasure in learning about them -- after all, if you are interested in learning the ins and outs of a fictional world, it's no great leap to learn about a "real" one.

I agree 100%. About freakin' time.

Really? Casts me back to the countless requests for SausageEggNChips while working in a BURGER joint in Greece. Everything else was just too scary.

Don't MAKE me round up my examples of equal UK ignorance.

ROFL

ha!ha! Reminds me of that one movie with Julie Walters is was it? Or whomever - the one who goes to Greece and falls for a Greek waiter.....

yeah yeah, if I had a dollar for every time...


Lucky me, I got the English waiter instead.

Was it something "Valentine" ..... I love the part where he kisses her stretch marks.

Shirley Valentine

(Pauline Collins)