Extensive differences, indeed
September 13, 2003 at 3:27 PM ET
James
HPANA (via alt.fan.harry-potter)
between American and British editions of the Harry Potter novels required quite an amount of hits on the Delete key or many bottles of White-Out on the American publisher's part - changes range from the ridiculous to the mildly understandable, and number in the hundreds.
While I am not quite sure that this is the definitive list of exactly all of the edits undergone to make the American books more theoretically sellable, it must be the closest thing we have to it now.
Some words and phrases found in the British novels that haven't shown up in the American books:
* Shan't
* Bobble hats
* Cooker
* Sellotape
* Fringe
What these words have been translated into in the American volumes:
* "Shan't" - translates to "Won't
* "Bobble hats" - to "Bonnets"
* "Cooker" - "Stove"
* "Sellotape" - "Scotch Tape"
* "Fringe" - "Bangs" [hair]
A huge thank you to Nick for sending us this excellent tip.