Maybe the "mum" issue is just spelling. They never read, so they assume it's spelled the same?

[cimorene]

As ealgylden noted on my last post on the subj., the combination of young British newbies (which seem to make up the majority of the fandom for some reason) and young new-to-fandom Don't Bother With Betas Culture has resulted in the larger body of work in Stranger Things fandom - the unfiltered pool, if you will - being thoroughly permeated with blithe, unaware Britishisms. It's incomprehensible to me how someone can get old enough to write fanfiction without consuming enough international media to notice that Americans don't have "mums" or go "to hospital", but it's far beyond that. Sweatshirts are sweaters. Sneakers are trainers. Friends are mates. People are drinking the wrong kinds of beer. At this point I'd rather read an unexplained British AU than another one of these regionalization tragedies.

Comments

[hebethen]

What would you call the American version of Britpicking? I suppose this is some kind of fated turnabout...

[cimorene]

Lol, ikr. It's just as annoying the other way around!

I think I have seen people refer to it as "American-picking", but it doesn't exactly roll off the tongue...

[krait]

I shall propose "States-picking."

Alternately, for Brits specifically, "Yank-picking" is also acceptable. :D

[cimorene]

Australians say 'yank' too, I think. But none of them really have the good feel that "britpick" does.

[krait]

A good point! And it raises the question of what to call the reverse, too; Aussie-picking?

[hebethen]

Hmmm... what about "Statea" for the US (off of "beta") and "Ausdit" for Australia?

[cimorene]

I love the way you're thinking here! I was trying to think of terms that would be puns in their own right and failing. Ausdit is great! But I think "Statea" is hard to grasp from reading. I had to stare at it for a minute. Maybe spelling it with a hyphen in the middle?

[hebethen]

Yes, it's a bit of a puzzle, isn't it. State-a might work!

[princessofgeeks]

Well, I guess it's only justice of a sort, since us USA folk have been imposing our slang on the world and all its fandoms for decades.....

[cimorene]

Yeah, they probably still aren't close to catching up in sheer numbers.

On the other hand, every instance is still just as painful on either side...

[ealgylden]

As much as I enjoy the characters, I'm kind of hitting the limit on the fic for just this reason. Every time I get worn into submission by the ear-jangling vocab- though for the love of goats, please do not put Will in a jumper, he has enough problems- I run smack into something like Steve thinking he might whip up a quick curry for El. A white boy in the Midwest in 1986. I'll give you 100-1 odds he's never tasted curry, author. He's certainly never cooked it.

[cimorene]

Lol. I didn't see that one - I must have back buttoned earlier (or also I don't read wips). But same. I mean, getting fed up is mostly that I back button a lot earlier though. I open like 25 and finish maybe 4-5 to bookmark one.