Hi Dark, Interesting. I just finished reading the web page you linked to below and besides a very informative read I now understand why when Scholastic reprinted the Harry Potter books for the U.S. market they performed extensive rewriting of the actual text. While the British and Americans might both speak English the fact of the matter is there is far more differences between Britain and America than just language. There are plenty of social and cultural issues to consider here.
While most Americans probably wouldn't have a problem of using post instead of mail there are British terms that would be slightly offensive to Americans. Off the top of my head I'll take the issue of using the toilet. Where I live we tend to indirectly say what we mean by saying we have to go to the bathroom, we want to use the restroom, or as my Grandma would say the lady's room. If someone were more direct and saying they have to use the toilet many would find that a bit crude and uncouth. My grandma would no sooner have said use the toilet than she would have said she needed to take a crap or pee because it would have been too direct and uncouth. Of course, this is changing as younger Americans feel more comfortable of saying what they mean. That said, I found it interesting that the article you posted states that in Britain they don't have the fundamentalist Christian groups like we have in the U.S. The author went as far to say that most British people would feel more comfortable about talking about their sex life than their religion. I found it a bit funny he stated most British people find our brand of fundamentalist Christianity insincere or down right nuts. Here in the U.S. that's totally the opposite in places like the Bible Belt and running into someone with a fundamentalist point of view is pretty common. I should know since I'm married to one. :D Anyway, getting back to the topic at hand, I do see the problem here of Candy Land Vs. something else. To begin with a Gingerbread Cookie in the U.S. is a small crunchy cookie in the shape of a gingerbread man. What you chaps would call a biscuit. From what I've managed to read is that Candy Canes simply do not exist in Britain and seems to be an American sweet. A Sour Patch is a round gummy sweet that is very sweet and very sour at the same time. They tend to be very sticky when you lick them so I guess that's why landing on one causes you to lose a turn in the game. Bottom line, I think what we'd have to do if we created a Candy Land game is have a custom version for the U.K. From what I gather your concepts of sweets is fairly different from ours with sweets we don't have here, and sweets we have here aren't popular over there. Its no wonder certain things like Candy Cane Forests don't make sense to you because you don't have them. Then again, there are a lot of things about British lifestyle and American life style that are so different its like stepping into the Twilight Zone or something. I remember reading about British chocolate, how its made, and it sounds completely disgusting to me. Of course, I've never tried it so can't comment from experience, but its definitely different from what I'd be use to as an American. Same goes for the British concept of hot chocolate. The author who wrote that article you sent stated that most British people don't drink hot chocolate with marshmallows in it. To be honest I find that hard to believe because almost every American I know would kill you if you left the marshmallows out of their hot chocolate. Its as though we aren't living in too separate countries but on two different planets in cases like that. Lol! Cheers! On 9/6/12, dark <d...@xgam.org> wrote: > Hi Tom. > > Well, I'm not sure if the exact game was ever markited over here under that > > name, though I do remember playing ones with similar rules as a child. > > For example, me being an avid Thomas the tank engine enthusiast, my mum > bought, and indeed brailled a game called thomas the Tank engine all > changed, which worked exactly the same way with drawing cards and advancing > > several spaces or going backwards, but with stations on the board instead of > > locations like the candy forest etc, and the game's objective was to reach > the engine shed in the middle of the board. > > The unique rule however that I think was specific to that game was > occasionally you'd pick up a card saying "all change" and get to pick a > player to swap positions with on the board. > > As regards the hole candy thing, well it depends upon the type really. I > have no idea for instance what sour patches are, ---- unless they're what in > > England are called wine gums or jellies. Gingerbread is very common over > here though and nearly all bakers sell it, but usually in the form of ginger > > bread men or just gingerbread biscuits, sinse over here "biscuits" refers > mostly to anything like shortbread, gingerbread, rich tea, digestives etc, > and the term "cookies" is only used of very soft, often large sized chewie > affairs that I believe are supposedly a more American style of recipe, or at > > least thought to be. > > I think if candy land were! produced over here it would probably go under > the name sweety land, sinse overe here "sweets" serves as something of a > catch all term the way candy does in the states, with "sweeties" as a more > childish version. > > Btw, sinse the question of English language and to an extent cultural > differences from the states has come up before, I recently heard about this > > extremely good artical intended to help Americans who might want to write > accurately about Britain (especially as regards harry potter). > > http://members.madasafish.com/~cj_whitehound/Fanfic/Britpicks.htm > > While I think it is perhaps in some places a little more specific to > scotland, ---- for instance it mentions beef being expensive and thus less > commonly eaten in Britain (yet I eat roast beef extremely often), and the > term "carry out" being often used where as myself I've never heard of that > expression and "takeaway" is the usual, it's still a very good artical and > should provide an interesting read on precisely issues such as candy vs > sweets etc which have come up on list before. > > Beware the grue! > > Dark. > > --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. 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