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Chris7sw

Far from virgin
Joined
Mar 3, 2013
Posts
24
I'm curious as to whether or not stories by British authors (e.g, me) get marked down simply because we're not American - because we don't use American spellings and terms.
Fair goes if they're marked down because the stories aren't up to scratch but not if people mark them down out of some kind of prejudice.

I say that because when I first started posting stories here I was 'warned' by a NY lady who writes extensively in Literotica to beware of the general US condemnation of non-US writings - I wonder how true her words are?
So what would happen if I set my stories in America with US spellings and vocabulary?
 
Chris7sw said:
I'm curious as to whether or not stories by British authors (e.g, me) get marked down simply because we're not American - because we don't use American spellings and terms.
Fair goes if they're marked down because the stories aren't up to scratch but not if people mark them down out of some kind of prejudice.

I say that because when I first started posting stories here I was 'warned' by a NY lady who writes extensively in Literotica to beware of the general US condemnation of non-US writings - I wonder how true her words are?
So what would happen if I set my stories in America with US spellings and vocabulary?
Click to expand...

Sometimes they get marked down for that, yes. Not something you're going to avoid on a primarily American-system based site (the site itself is written in the American system), though, when most American readers don't even know there are any different systems (and don't necessarily know their own system very well--I sometimes get comments of something supposedly rendered incorrectly from folks who never went beyond high school and don't know that commercial fiction is not high school English).
 
There are spelling nazis who are going to get you for not spelling the 'mercan way because they have no imagination. There's not much you can do about it, except know that you're doing it right. On the other hand a lot of us Americans can't tell if something is spelled wrong no matter what version of English is being used.

I got called on something once, I can't remember if I put the extra 'i' in aluminium, uh, aluminum or a 'u' in something like colour or labour or something. I think I deleted the comment. I'm not British, but went to a Brit school from something like nine years and some of it still comes out.

I think the hardest thing to to when I got back stateside was doing the abbreviated date American style. 8/26/14 rather than 26/8/14. Of course the hardest thing going to a Brit school was learning long division with Pounds, Shillings and Pence. And ha'pennys and farthings. Yuck. I don't know if they were still using half pennys or farthings then, but they made us do problems with them.
 
i haven't experienced much in the way of significantly negative feedback - in regard to use of British idiom; and if there have been comments, it's usually anon and the snarky delivery.

you could use US spellings and phrasing, of course. but, to my mind you'd then need to be mindful of not slipping a boot into your trunk, etc.
 
Chris7sw said:
I'm curious as to whether or not stories by British authors (e.g, me) get marked down simply because we're not American - because we don't use American spellings and terms.
Fair goes if they're marked down because the stories aren't up to scratch but not if people mark them down out of some kind of prejudice.

I say that because when I first started posting stories here I was 'warned' by a NY lady who writes extensively in Literotica to beware of the general US condemnation of non-US writings - I wonder how true her words are?
So what would happen if I set my stories in America with US spellings and vocabulary?
Click to expand...

I usually post in Australian English; I'll occasionally include a note on Australianisms that might be confusing to readers, but not for spelling. The only time I've ever had a problem was a polite comment from one UK reader who was uncomfortable with my use of "wog" - neither of us had been aware that it's much more offensive in the UK than in Australia.

I do occasionally write in US English when I have a specific reason (e.g. narrator and setting are American) but it's a bit of a pain - tweaking the spellchecker dictionary helps but there are plenty of things it won't catch, eg car "trunk" vs "boot".

I've seen very occasional complaints about British spelling/idiom on other people's stories but unless you're using slang heavily it's not something I'd worry about.
 
I write in British English but I try for a mid-Atlantic flavor/flavour, happily using Brtish versions of words such as flavour that have different spellings, but I try to avoid words that have different meanings such as 'fanny'.

I have had comments about my Britishness, but those comments are more about the plot of my stories because women are not degraded. Strong women seem to offend a few people who call themselves American.

They think that Femdom is for Brits only. :D

According to them 'Real' Americans stand no nonsense and beat the shit out of their women.

We have 'Real' Brits like that too.

They are a small but vociferous minority who want to abuse women. I wish they were even fewer or extinct.
 
oggbashan said:
I write in British English but I try for a mid-Atlantic flavor/flavour, happily using Brtish versions of words such as flavour that have different spellings, but I try to avoid words that have different meanings such as 'fanny'.

I have had comments about my Britishness, but those comments are more about the plot of my stories because women are not degraded. Strong women seem to offend a few people who call themselves American.

They think that Femdom is for Brits only. :D

According to them 'Real' Americans stand no nonsense and beat the shit out of their women.

We have 'Real' Brits like that too.

They are a small but vociferous minority who want to abuse women. I wish they were even fewer or extinct.
Click to expand...

readers of The Sun. :D 'phwoar, what a scorcher', etc.
 
This site is chuck full of prejudices...

It's not only nationality but race, gender, social classes, ethnicity, and age. I once got a comment saying he gave my story a "1" because he doesn't read anything with characters over the age of 40.

Most of the readers here are reasonable people but there is a small portion that have the IQ of my left shoe, and of course, they're the ones who yell the loudest.

Just keep a stiff upper lip, as you Brits say, and plot on.
 
Troll!

JAMESBJOHNSON said:
Brit writers are cunts.
Click to expand...

JBJ (aka, James "Blowjob" Johnson) You're obviously completely jealous since all you can string together are five feeble words!

An asshole - to use an American spelling.....of the troll variety.

Long may your kind suffer under heavy rocks and blunt instruments.
 
Chris7sw said:
JBJ (aka, James "Blowjob" Johnson) You're obviously completely jealous since all you can string together are five feeble words!

An asshole - to use an American spelling.....of the troll variety.

Long may your kind suffer under heavy rocks and blunt instruments.
Click to expand...

just ignore the cunt. he feeds off a reaction.
 
Chris7sw said:
JBJ (aka, James "Blowjob" Johnson) You're obviously completely jealous since all you can string together are five feeble words!

An asshole - to use an American spelling.....of the troll variety.

Long may your kind suffer under heavy rocks and blunt instruments.
Click to expand...

Brits are Muslim bitches.
 
Absolutely!

geronimo_appleby said:
just ignore the cunt. he feeds off a reaction.
Click to expand...

LOL - love it!
And down to just four words this time!
Obviously nearly exhausted his talent!

But I enjoy having my say too.....
So I might add that if JBJ is so damn talented (he's an MA - he's into brain injuries - also shit working (sorry, sheet) - not to mention blowing holes in things, i.e., air conditioning to mention but a few of his pseudo multi-skilled specialties) then few of his skills are in his mouth, or in his brain, to be honest.
He did forget to add bigot and shit-dispenser to his abilities - probably some of the few of his genuine skills.

Loved to have a look at his threads and replies - makes me realise how low some people can sink.

Complete waste of air; should have been squashed at birth, methinks.

Bye bye to you BJB - from your loving Muslim cunt! xxxxxxx
 
oggbashan said:
I write in British English but I try for a mid-Atlantic flavor/flavour
Click to expand...

"*glub glub* where did all the land go? Help! *glub glub sink*"

Sorry :p

geronimo_appleby said:
readers of The Sun. :D 'phwoar, what a scorcher', etc.
Click to expand...

Don't forget The Daily Fail heh.

laptopwriter said:
I once got a comment saying he gave my story a "1" because he doesn't read anything with characters over the age of 40.
Click to expand...

Then there's the people complaining about non-monogamous behaviour in the group sex section.

Chris7sw said:
JBJ (aka, James "Blowjob" Johnson) You're obviously completely jealous since all you can string together are five feeble words!
Click to expand...

I think you over estimate his abilities... I only count four words lol.
 
I had complaints on my first story about it being British English or that the spelling/grammar was incorrect, so since then, I've added a note at the beginning stating it is British English. Anyone who doesn't like it can hit the back button, it's their choice. I think it must discourage quite a high percentage.

The one story I forgot to add that on, I had similar comments from the moaning twunts again.

I don't care about the nationality of the writer, just as long as they can write either a story or something worth a fiddle, or preferably, both.

I find it disingenuous for a writer to pretend they're US when they're not though, or feel they have to in order to get more readers/votes. I'm odd like that.
 
Last edited:
Strictly an American, but when I read stories by English authors I an fairly quickly aware and understand the difference in spelling and slang words. Some British spellings I really like,Many Canadian authors armour vs. our armor, I prefer the extra u to make it sound thicker and give better protection. When the author uses a slang word I do not understand I simply Google the word.

I do not mark a story down because the author uses British spelling or slang. I will also add many Canadian authors if not all use the British spelling of many words. I do not claim to be a world traveler I have visited or lived in countries where English of any kind is a foreign language.

Mike
 
I don't mark differently

Chris7sw said:
I'm curious as to whether or not stories by British authors (e.g, me) get marked down simply because we're not American - because we don't use American spellings and terms.
Fair goes if they're marked down because the stories aren't up to scratch but not if people mark them down out of some kind of prejudice.

I say that because when I first started posting stories here I was 'warned' by a NY lady who writes extensively in Literotica to beware of the general US condemnation of non-US writings - I wonder how true her words are?
So what would happen if I set my stories in America with US spellings and vocabulary?
Click to expand...

I think that NY woman represents only some of the worst of us Americans.. shame on her and thoughts and actions like that.. for that I apologize for all of us. I mark stories very fairly and very much enjoy English writing and have no issue with it.. I think it is more interesting in many cases to see the cultural differences.. I think that the quality may be better also..
 
I tend to adjust dependent on the location...

As an Englishman, I'll use words such as 'arse' as opposed to 'ass' if the tale is set in England, and dialogue used by characters includes the term; vice versa if transatlantic.

However, I'll always spell words such as 'colour' and 'labour' the correct way, or the correct way as I see it as an Englishman. I'm not sure as to whether this has had any detrimental effect on the way my stories are scored by U.S. readers; some of my efforts being 'pants' (in the English sense) anyhow.

I have to admit, the constant indication of words such as 'visualisation' coming up as being incorrect - Americans using a zed (zee) - is a bit irksome, but what the hell!

If the content is exciting enough to the reader, this should warrant a reasonable score; this is an erotica site after all, not some academic site.
 
Interesting situation.

I use 'arse' not 'ass' primarily because I am not American. Even to try and give an explanation of pronunciation is difficult because (for the same reason it's pronounced the same way) 'arse' does not rhyme with e.g. 'glass' or 'grass'.
'ass' rhymes with 'crass' only because there's no problem with the pronunciation of that word by Americans or 'English' and Australian speakers.

I'm sure many Americans know how we say 'arse'.
Australians, unless they have adopted US pronunciation, know that an ass is a donkey. But an arse is a derriere.
An arsehole however, is the same as an 'asshole'.

Speaking for myself, I usually try at many opportunities to instil the fact we Australians say 'arse' as we spell it.
Furthermore, ass, in my thinking, is a Puritan's way of dealing with a wonderful old Anglo Saxon word, by introducing the connotation of 'ass' as a donkey when they really mean 'bottom' or 'rear'.
'Route' (pron. rout) and 'route' (pronounced 'root', which also means sexual intercourse; not sure if that is used in the US. But, again, I believe it's a similar Puritan way of avoiding that sexual connotation.

Many, many other examples abound too.
 
Honestly the only time I would dock someone for grammar or spelling is if it was so obnoxious it took my attention from the story. I am definitely not a grammar nazi.

I am also aware that the King's English (or is it the Queen's English these days?) spells things a bit differently from us colonials. I am also aware that you use some different slang words. Admittedly, most of my knowledge of English slang comes from watching Jamie Oliver's cooking shows and reading bawdy cheap romance novels.

I think that most mildly intelligent people would understand the difference between a misspelling and an English version of a word. But then again I am new to Literotica, so I wouldn't take my word for it.
 
MichaelinChina said:
Interesting situation.

I use 'arse' not 'ass' primarily because I am not American. Even to try and give an explanation of pronunciation is difficult because (for the same reason it's pronounced the same way) 'arse' does not rhyme with e.g. 'glass' or 'grass'.
'ass' rhymes with 'crass' only because there's no problem with the pronunciation of that word by Americans or 'English' and Australian speakers.

.
Click to expand...

Depends on whereabouts in Britain you are. In the North Arse may be pronounced the same as ass but in the south it is not. In those places glass is pronounced as if it had an r in it ie glarss, grass is the same. In these cases arse would most definitely rhyme with both glass and grass. The upper classes ( or clarsses ) would emphasize the non-existent r.

It's a tricky thing to get around.

To take up the OP's point, very few people have said they were marking me down for my English spelling. I did have one recently that said "Illiterate. I didn't get beyond the eighth word"
That word was dowsed. The person making the comment obviously thought it should be doused. Having checked my dictionary and found the words are interchangeable, it made me wonder whether the "Illiterate" part was a comment or simply the commenter introducing himself?
 
DeYaKen said:
Depends on whereabouts in Britain you are. In the North Arse may be pronounced the same as ass but in the south it is not. In those places glass is pronounced as if it had an r in it ie glarss, grass is the same. In these cases arse would most definitely rhyme with both glass and grass. The upper classes ( or clarsses ) would emphasize the non-existent r.

It's a tricky thing to get around.

To take up the OP's point, very few people have said they were marking me down for my English spelling. I did have one recently that said "Illiterate. I didn't get beyond the eighth word"
That word was dowsed. The person making the comment obviously thought it should be doused. Having checked my dictionary and found the words are interchangeable, it made me wonder whether the "Illiterate" part was a comment or simply the commenter introducing himself?
Click to expand...

'Dowsed' - as in 'drenching with water' or as in the art of finding water with a forked stick or a bent piece of wire? My Grandpa could find water using the wire, which would turn toward the ground if undergound water was present.

Some people obviously have less extensive vocabularies than others.
It's a shame if your stories were rejected due to their limitations.
 
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