Hello from the copy editing cave!
I am currently going through (slogging through?) copy edits for my 2025 historical novel The Dressmakers of London,1 and as always this is bringing several things to light:
The focus required for copy editing is very different than that for writing first drafts or developmental edits. For me, copy edits are tedious but intense and are often performed on a book that I have read approximately 40,0002 times already.
Grammar is hard, and sometimes I like the break the rules of grammar selectively in order to get a point across. Copy editors generally don’t like this, which I completely understand because their job is to keep authors on the straight and narrow of language.
Being an Anglo-American author who writes books set in the UK but was born and raised in the US brings its own set of challenges.
Over the years, I’ve built up an arsenal of words that are different in British and American English I automatically look for while copy editing or proofreading my books because either a) I have messed them up in the past or b) I have lived in the UK long enough that even I get confused about which ones are the American and which are the British meanings.
I thought that today, I would share a small selection of my danger words (British usage first and then American):
Words and phrases that are just different in the UK & US
Railway station instead of train station
Pavement instead of sidewalk
Fire engine instead of fire truck and fire brigade instead of fire department
“Any joy?” instead of “Any luck?”
Lorry instead of truck
Hob instead of stove
Loo or toilet instead of bathroom
Bin instead of trash can and rubbish instead of trash
Boot instead of trunk when speaking about a car and bonnet instead than hood
Lift instead of elevator
GP surgery instead of doctor’s office and similarly GP instead of primary care physician (if you want to be all technical about it)
Public school instead of private school and state school instead of public school
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