Talking about translation…
Yes, that's right — the American audience got to read specially adapted for them version of the wizards' book. For example, the first book, published in UK, carried the title "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", but in the US it was published as "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone". The American publisher changed the name due to apprehensions that children in the US would be confused by the apparent reference to philosophy not knowing about the actual reference to the mythical substance that turns metals into gold. The "translation" also included a list of unpopular in the US British English terms and words. Here are a only a few examples: dustbin (UK) — trashcan (US); bonnet (UK) — hood (US); torch (UK) — flashlight (US); biscuits (UK) — cookies (US); crumpets — English muffins (US).
What do you think — is that good for the children, so that they can read the book without unknown word popping up, or this way they have missed the chance to learn and enrich their vocabulary?
