An (ex) employee recently objected to the fact that I don't allow American slang in copy.
He was responsible for writing copy for a South Florida-based website. Let's think about this.
How many people in South Florida have English as their first language? I don't have statistics but I'll bet that it's around 40%. (Let me know if I'm wrong!)
But wherever you're located, you have to remember that your readers do not necessarily understand 'American', I say 'American' - in inverted commas - because really there is no such language; it's just bastardized English. And this doesn't only apply to websites; it aplies to all your promotional material.
Let's take TSDG as an example of the way most businesses are multicultural these days. In recent years, our staff has included people from:
England
Vietnam
Wales
Colombia
Cuba
Canada (French-speaking)
Australia
Portugal
Italy
Switzerland
Germany....
...oh, and America.
If we are typical, then it gives you some idea of what a typical website viewer might me; even ones 'from America'.
They might not understand phrases like:
Our support is available 24/7
This is a hot deal
We will touch base
Our company has changed hands
We might not even think that those are idiomatic !
So they'll certainly have a problem with:
Couch potato
Don't knock it
Making waves
It's maxed out
Pain in the butt
Piece of cake
Chill
Neat idea
No sweat
Meltdown
Megabucks
... and a million other words and phrases.
Remember too that many foreigners will have been taught English at school, or even at a specialist language school, which means that their grammar might be even better than your own; we tend not to know the grammar rules of our own language.
Consider too that the American way of writing dates isn't used elsewhere. To the majority of non-Americans, 9/11 means the ninth of November. There is only one other country in the world (and I forget which) using the Imperial system of weights and measures. If you are hoping to sell goods to other countries, remember that most people won't know what 7'6" means. After fifteen years in America, I still think in terms of centimtres and millmetres, not inches.
If you have recipes on your website or in your promotional material, remember that '2 cups' means nothing to a non-American. What is a stick of butter? What are eggplants? What is confectioners' sugar? What is broil? In America grill for 10 minutes means put onto the barbecue for ten minutes. In other parts of the world, it means broil for ten minutes. The results are unlikely to be the same.
And remember that non-Americans are likely to know the true meaning of words. You may describe your pizza as unique, but is it, really?
Comments