8 replies to this topic

[General Koskov]

I have not finished TMWTRT, so I'll refrain from commenting on the whole book. However, one Americanism slipped through the supposedly careful British editors at Gildrose: in chapter eight of TMWTRT ('Yakuza Territory') while the motorbikes are intimidating Bond and Reiko, Benson writes that Reiko does an 'about face and pulled Bond towards her.'

Perhaps the editors who remove American language from Benson's manuscripts (this is how I understand the process is done) have no knowledge of the military, but there must be someone who knows that in the Commonwealth (at least Canada and UK) the military order is: 'About TURN'.

True, these movements are different in how the feet move, but they accomplish the same thing--and I highly doubt that Reiko would have executed either the About TURN or About FACE exactly: she probably just turned around sharply--so it's safe to say Benson made a mistake.


_{Wow, that's a long explanation for two wrong words!}

[General Koskov]

Well the next time you say 'About FACE', stop yourself, count down from ten, and then say: 'About TURN'. Unless you're American, in which case you can go on screwing up the Enlgish language like you've been doing for the past two-hundred and twenty-four years!

I, too, see a lot of things saying something like: 'The Tories did an about face and became a communist party...' without any military connotation. But I also see the same sort of sentences with 'turn' in place of 'face'.

[rafterman]

I believe he comes up with most of the language himself, but that and editor points out when something is too American, but I think he's aware enough of the issue that he makes an effort to do it all himself...

[General Koskov]

Yeah, I think I got mixed up when I said that there were 'Americanisation Editors', but I did read somewhere that he has 'Special Help' ( ) with this.

Anyway, this was too American for me.

[Hardyboy]

Well, I've noticed a lot of Americanisms and especially American attitudes in Benson's novels. . .but I'm wondering, given the free flow of information between our countries and especially the number of American movies and TV shows that appear in the UK (I swear, I was looking through the TV section in the Times of London and I thought I could almost be reading the TV section in the Tucson Citizen. . .the UK actually gets Judge Judy?!); isn't it possible that a lot of Americanisms have slipped into the lexicon? "About face" is a very common term here and usually has no military connotations. Likewise, I've noticed more Britishisms entering American English--such as pronouncing "advertisement" with the accent on the second syllable (as in the UK) instead of the usual American third syllable. Who knows--we could be moving toward a time when the UK and the US will no longer be two nations divided by the same language.

[General Koskov]

In the second-last page of chapter 20 ('Escape from Sapporo'), Benson adds another one-liner for Bond concerning taking Ikuo and Mayumi to the hospital, he says: 'Perhaps they'll give us a bulk discount.'

Now I may be reading too much into this, but Bond would not be familiar with the old idea of hospitals charging money. Of course one could argue that Fleming's Bond was born 1920-something and knew the days before socıalısed medicine. But after fifty-two years of socıalısed medicine...! One cannot expect Bond to think back to the old days and then come up with a quip like that!

Of course Benson, being American, knows all the jokes on doctor's bills and doesn't hesitate to have Bond quip about something he should know nothing--or remember nothing--about.

[rafterman]

I let most things go, unless Bond says really badly obvious American things..the day when Bond says dude, is the day Benson's lost it....

[leviramsey]

rafterman (20 May, 2002 07:04 a.m.):
I let most things go, unless Bond says really badly obvious American things..the day when Bond says dude, is the day Benson's lost it....

Or when they publish the shortest known version of OHMSS:

"Dude, where's Blofeld?"

;-)

[General Koskov]

Also, he frequently says 'British citisen'. Aren't Britons Subjects? I know they were, at least, but perhaps that changed because some republican was crying so much...tsk tsk.