Americanisms

[blood of the dragoon]

On the OP I had rather anglocentrically I know assumed GRRM was British at first as when I looked at westeros I saw Scotland, Hadriens Wall, the North with Winterfell - York and its more stoic salt of the earth types, and the South with KL- London and the flashy, dishonest southerners. Woops.

rather shamefuly.

U in words refers to Anglo spelling such as Colour

another one is Z in things which I would spell with an S recognise and recognize for instance. and yes it catches me out and throws me off every time.

I forgot about z/s. How about center vs centre?

[Strongest Of All Belwas]

Yes I love Cunt, t'is a fab word and I am proud to have one, frankly its one of the best things in the world, feels amazing for sex and is the gateway of life into the world. Nothing to feel shame for or be considered a derogatory thing IMO

Viva la cunt.

Sorry, but Louis C.K. sums it up perfectly. Here in America, there is no way to make the word "Cunt" sexy. The derision we have for the word conjures up visions of decidedly unappealling female genitalia, possibly malodorous or malformed.

[Tommens Cat]

Sorry, but Louis C.K. sums it up perfectly. Here in America, there is no way to make the word "Cunt" sexy. The derision we have for the word conjures up visions of decidedly unappealling female genitalia, possibly malodorous or malformed.

That's because we have been formed to imagine that. Because the plan worked, as it did for the Christians and many other political and powerful entity. You can't kill all the women or pagans, but you can dilute the cognitive process of a population to make them control or police themselves.

[Night'sQueen]

I'm American but have an Aussie pal here who shocked me with her quite liberal and frequent use of the c-u-next-tuesday. I was especially confused when she used it to refer to men.

[Dragonstoned]

The only thing that has jarred me is quite minor and really random- the use of the word cunt in a sexist way, as notably monologued about by Asha. In Britain, it's mainly used against men, hence it being a little less tabboo.

Yes, this! In Britain I've never heard 'cunt' used on a woman, and I first came across it in American English when McNulty calls his wife one in The Wire. So, Americans, does it usually refer to a woman in the US then?

[Strongest Of All Belwas]

That's because we have been formed to imagine that. Because the plan worked, as it did for the Christians and many other political and powerful entity. You can't kill all the women or pagans, but you can dilute the cognitive process of a population to make them control or police themselves.

Yep. It's strictly cultural perception; I say "Cunt", and fairly often, but I can honestly say I've never called a guy one. I don't cringe when I hear it, as so many Americans are wont to do, but I'll never picture it in a kindly manner as I can with other terms..

[mankytoes]

On the OP I had rather anglocentrically I know assumed GRRM was British at first as when I looked at westeros I saw Scotland, Hadriens Wall, the North with Winterfell - York and its more stoic salt of the earth types, and the South with KL- London and the flashy, dishonest southerners. Woops.

rather shamefuly.

U in words refers to Anglo spelling such as Colour

another one is Z in things which I would spell

with an S recognise and recognize for instance. and yes it catches me out and throws me off every time.

I'm sure The Man has said The Wall is inspired by Hadrian's, but I guess the "cold weather people are hard" stereotype is universal.

[Strongest Of All Belwas]

Yes, this! In Britain I've never heard 'cunt' used on a woman, and I first came across it in American English when McNulty calls his wife one in The Wire. So, Americans, does it usually refer to a woman in the US then?

Only women. I have never, EVER heard a man called a "Cunt".

[Fightbringer]

As an Englishman, I find it cool how the books are based partly on my country's history, and was a little surprised they are written by an American. Which is probably a bit harsh, but also maybe a compliment that his culture hasn't seeped in. The only thing that has jarred me is quite minor and really random- the use of the word cunt in a sexist way, as notably monologued about by Asha. In Britain, it's mainly used against men, hence it being a little less tabboo. Of course there's no reason Westeros couldn't share that use of language, it just struck me as very "other side of the Atlantic". Any other examples?

cunt is either a rude way to describe (mainly male) people or another way of saying vagina in britain, and i cant recall asha being called a cunt, instead of people using the word when talking about whats between her legs to objectify her, and i'm sure that at least in the tv show the word is used in the proper context by asha when talking to theon, and tyrion with "why are all the gods such vicious cunts?"

[Tommens Cat]

Yep. It's strictly cultural perception; I say "Cunt", and fairly often, but I can honestly say I've never called a guy one. I don't cringe when I hear it, as so many Americans are wont to do, but I'll never picture it in a kindly manner as I can with other terms..

understandable. i was under a little bit of a different impression based on your first post. but i see where youre coming from. and SOOO many americans hate the word. but we, IMO, get manipulated WWAAAYY more in US that in SOME other countries. but americans are closed minded for the most part. however, my generation (15-25 year olds [im 23]) seem to be a bit more open minded. but again, american politics (or whoever is really running shit here) are still manipulating the population. now i believe it is through music and media. not media like news (most youngers here dont care about news) but music and movies, shows, etc. this is a huge influence on the youth. i think whoever is running shit found out in the 60's and 70's that music and movies and art are such major factors in ones life they have used very dumb music and closed minded media to control the cognitive proccesses of our youth. im sure same is true with a lot of countries, but US is just......hmmmmm....... f'ed up.

i listen to beatles everyday so i figure i am immune to mind control.

[Tommens Cat]

cunt is either a rude way to describe (mainly male) people or another way of saying vagina in britain, and i cant recall asha being called a cunt, instead of people using the word when talking about whats between her legs to objectify her, and i'm sure that at least in the tv show the word is used in the proper context by asha when talking to theon, and tyrion with "why are all the gods such vicious cunts?"

battle outside deepwood motte

[The Pain Yak]

i always thought the "c" word has a funny connotation. cock is not bad. ive been called a cock and did not flip my lid. cock is a male genitalia. cunt is a women genitalia. it used to be a word that invoked a powerful response and appreciation of women, but men (being men, and patriarchal) decided (much like the christians turned the pagan holiday of the sun god into jesus's birthday just to fuck the pagans up) to start using the word to demean women and make them fearful of their own beauty. i still consider it a compliment. but i dont like society "rules" anyway. ive seen too much of humanity to believe in society.

'Dick' is kinda bad. No one wants to be called a dick, but its certainly less harsh to American ears than calling a woman a cunt.

And to the original topic, to be fair, modern British English and modern American English are probably a lot more alike to one another than either is to medieval English. I wonder how people would have responded if GRRM had used The Canterbury Tales as his model of British English?

[Stannis Eats No Peaches]

Cunt is used against men in the UK, but it's still the most taboo word here and I generally don't use it. The missing of the letter "u" in certain words is to be expected because they're pronounced the same and it's an American author after all. An Americanism I can think of off the top of my head is Robert saying "ass" in AGoT. We say "arse" in Britain, "ass" means a donkey.

[Strongest Of All Belwas]

understandable. i was under a little bit of a different impression based on your first post. but i see where youre coming from. and SOOO many americans hate the word. but we, IMO, get manipulated WWAAAYY more in US that in SOME other countries. but americans are closed minded for the most part. however, my generation (15-25 year olds [im 23]) seem to be a bit more open minded. but again, american politics (or whoever is really running shit here) are still manipulating the population. now i believe it is through music and media. not media like news (most youngers here dont care about news) but music and movies, shows, etc. this is a huge influence on the youth. i think whoever is running shit found out in the 60's and 70's that music and movies and art are such major factors in ones life they have used very dumb music and closed minded media to control the cognitive proccesses of our youth. im sure same is true with a lot of countries, but US is just......hmmmmm....... f'ed up.

i listen to beatles everyday so i figure i am immune to mind control.

Same age group, dude (I'll be 25 in about 2 weeks), I know the feeling.

[Evan K]

as an Irishman, i daily hear and use cunt referring to both men and women. some people wont use it, no one in polite company obviously, but its generally used to refer to men or women, but i suppose it would be more vicious against women than men

e.g.

you'd say to your (male) friend, "you're a thick (stupid) cunt

but you wouldnt dream of saying that to your female friends, you'd use bitch or bint or whatever.

cunt used to women is generally in a very nasty way. I study law and read a lot of sexual assault/abuse/rape cases in the last six months, and cunt is every other word in the witness statements, very derogatory

[Lord Flashheart]

Yes, this! In Britain I've never heard 'cunt' used on a woman, and I first came across it in American English when McNulty calls his wife one in The Wire. So, Americans, does it usually refer to a woman in the US then?

Learn from McNutty, never ever call a woman in America "Cunt"

[Ibbison from Ibben]

In aDwD, Bran's "Are we there yet?" seemed very modern, even an intentional anachronism. Very much a kids-in-the-back-seat-of-the-car thing going on. Would it be considered the same outside of America?

[giant snake]

As an Englishman, I find it cool how the books are based partly on my country's history, and was a little surprised they are written by an American. Which is probably a bit harsh, but also maybe a compliment that his culture hasn't seeped in. The only thing that has jarred me is quite minor and really random- the use of the word cunt in a sexist way, as notably monologued about by Asha. In Britain, it's mainly used against men, hence it being a little less tabboo. Of course there's no reason Westeros couldn't share that use of language, it just struck me as very "other side of the Atlantic". Any other examples?

I've always thought that this, and Bitch, were used to describe somebody acting outside of their gender. Calling a man a bitch implies that he is weak and whiny, while calling a woman a bitch is normally because she acts like a harpy or does something that you don't want.

I think that the environment in the world of Westeros is a lot different from England and that is the biggest American influence. I pictured the Westerlands as being very much like the hills of Tennessee and maybe Northern California, while the North is more like the Northwest.

[Ser Pounce FTW]

Color and other words that 'should' have a u.

As an American i didn't notice until someone pointed it out on the internet.

another one is Z in things which I would spell with an S recognise and recognize for instance. and yes it catches me out and throws me off every time.

I forgot about z/s. How about center vs centre?

Martin is an American and more than likely writes using American spelling: color, analyze and center. However, editors adapt the language for the countries the books are sold in so the spelling in a book bought in Britain will have colour, analyse and centre. Word selection, such as cunt, etc. doesn't get adapted so it might not follow local language conventions.

[King Robert's Warhammer]

Scottish. C*** is definitely creeping into more usage here. Although, pretty much just referring to a man.

Only a c*** would call a woman a c***.