Beta?

[eve11]

Anyone want to look over ~600 word ficlet for my comment-a-thon piece? I need a britpick; I have questions about certain terms. EG, paper napkins. Would it be right to just say paper napkins or is there something else they are called across the pond?

Comments

[redjaywrites.livejournal.com]

I think we just call them napkins.

Send the fic over to lokithisismadness@gmail.com and I can beta it for you. (:

[eve11]

Thank you! It's Six and Evelyn, is that all right? Sending now...

[redjaywrites.livejournal.com]

I know Six and I'll do some research on Evelyn (: *reading now*

[a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com]

Dammit...you had me til 'Britpick'

[eve11]

:D If ever I need a Kentucky-pick, I'll definitely ask you! Though a lot of that is pronunciation, eg, if one says "pen", and you can't tell whether they mean the writing utensil or the straight sharp kind used in sewing...

[a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com]

LOL!! By the way in Kentuckyese when one wants to 'wash' something, it is pronounced 'warsh'...

*Grins*

*SQUISHES YOU*

[wolfy-writing.livejournal.com]

I know that in Fiji, "napkin" means diaper, and they say "serviette" when referring to napkins. (I learned this after, asking for a paper napkin and getting some alarmed looks from a waitress one day.) I thought it might be a British thing (since Fijian English is heavily influenced by British English), but I don't know.

[eve11]

Yeah, that is what I was worried about. but honest-to-goodness brits seem to still use the term for the thing one uses at a dinner table. I do know that "nappy" is a diaper. Bah, now I'm at the point where "napkin" is just a weird, weird word to say.

[wolfy-writing.livejournal.com]

Since I'm not British, and have never lived in the UK, I'll defer to them and accept it could be a South Pacific thing (although less fun than "Please be upstanding for the national anthem", which was my personal favorite language variation from that region.)

[liadt]

Well, I'm a brit & I understand what paper napkins & serviettes are. I don't think it's a sidewalk/pavement thing so either would do I think.

[eve11]

Cool, thanks for the input!

[liadt]

Thinking about it around the supermarket I would say "serviette" if I was at a buffet or something.

[wiliqueen.livejournal.com]

When I lived there 30 years ago, it would definitely have been "serviette" only, but there seems to have been a borrowing/shift in the interim. There's probably a regional and/or class component involved, but I couldn't begin to quantify it.

[eve11]

I read somewhere that "napkin" was considered upper-class and "serviette" was considered lower-class. Which I found amusing because in the US the second one definitely sounds more pretentious. :) I just wanted to make sure that the first connotation wasn't "diaper"...