This wrap is a bomb

Communication World, Dec, 1997 by Richard Weiner

However, American and British media and communication people often do not understand the slang and technical jargon that is indigenous to each region.

Many millions of American and British people are part-time and full-time employees or students in advertising, broadcasting, film, journalism, printing, public relations, publishing, telecommunications, theater and other media and communication fields.

In our "media society," the general public also is interested in the lingo used by performers, reporters and others. So, let's take a look at some of the differences between media jargon in the U.S. and U.K.

Almost everyone knows that Americans call a lift an elevator and a WC (water closet) a bathroom. In a British theater, a platform that elevates the musicians is an orchestra lift.

Similarly, it's well known that a line of persons is a queue. However, it's not called a queue in the U.S., though American museums and other attractions now refer to a system of crowd control as a queing system and the route of the lines as a que path. British advertisers call a budget a costing.

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Many linguists believe that British people of all demographics tend to be more correct in their grammar, spelling and vocabulary. Even in America, the standard or correct usage of the English language is called the Queen's English (or King's English), which implies sanction by the British monarchy.

Received Standard English - the form of English speech used by educated upper-class people in England - is becoming rare. Its colloquial replacement relies heavily on slang and informal speech.

Americans are more likely to use compound words. An example of a rapid transition is Electronic mail to E-mail to Email to email.

In words with two consecutive vowels, Americans tend to omit one of the vowels. The most common example is color instead of colour. Classier examples are apheresis instead of aphaeresis and dieresis instead of diaeresis. Here are a few other spelling differences from the media and communication fields.

U.S.                                   U.K.

catalog                                catalogue
center                                 centre
draftsman                              draughtsman
font                                   fount
program                                programme
organization                           organisation

The metric system still is not standard in the U.S. - in spite of legislative and other mandates. As a result, International Standards Organization (ISO) designations are not always used in the U.S. For example, ISO designates rectangular paper sizes - the A series - by metric sizes. A4 paper is 210 by 297mm and is commonly used for letterheads outside of the U.S. This size, which is about 8-1/4 by 11-3/4 inches, is slightly longer than the size (8-1/2 by 11 inches) commonly used in the U.S.

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI, pronounced ann-see) sets standards for computer, communications and other equipment. Before 1982, this New York-based organization was called the American Standards Association and its designations (such as the ASA index to rate speed or light sensitivity of photographic materials) still is used in the U.S.

Similarly, temperature in the U.S. is expressed in the scale developed by Fahrenheit, a German physicist. The system developed by Celsius (a Swedish astronomer) is used in the U.K. and most countries. I admit that it makes more sense.

Royal Mail is the unit of the British Post Office that is responsible for letters, but not parcels. The U.S. Postal Service (commonly called the Post Office) also handles parcels. (Parcel Post was started in the U.S. in 1913.) First-Class Mail is a trademarked term of the U.S. Postal Service.

In many countries, the Postal Service is a government agency that also handles telecommunications. The U.S. Postal Service, which does not handle telecommunications, was established in 1971 as the successor to the Post Office Department and is an independent agency within the executive branch of the government.

Richard Weiner is a language expert (author of "Webster's New World Dictionary of Media and Communications"), writer and PR expert. He is senior consultant at Porter-Novelli in New York City. He will be an "Expert of the Week" on CW Online from January 16-29. Go to http://www.iabc.corn/members to access CW Online via the Member Centre.