Two nations divided by a common language

[ellarien]

This morning's NPR story on the 2-minute silence in London today contained not one but two howlers that make me wonder about their reporter on the spot (not permanently posted in the UK, apparently -- on July 7th he was reporting on soccer-playing illegal aliens in Turkey). I went and listened to it again on the web because I couldn't believe what I thought I heard him say.

First, there's a reference to the 'National Cathedral' in Trafalgar Square. That would, presumably, be the National Gallery, possibly somewhat conflated with the church next door. Okay, I suppose someone who'd never been to London before might confuse it with St. Paul's Cathedral ...


Then came the reference to Charles Clarke as 'Security Chief' and 'Homeland Secretary'. I suppose there is some overlap between the modern duties of the Home Secretary and those of the US Secretary of Homeland Security, but it's a very old office, mostly concerned with domestic law enforcement.

I hasten to add that I'm sure British reporters -- possibly even the BBC -- can mangle American nuances just as badly, but ... aargh.

Comments

[gwyneira.livejournal.com]

How ridiculous! Anyone covering news in another country should have some knowledge of the country, and that reporter sounds just plain ignorant.

Gee, I guess I'll have to add "the National Cathedral" to my list of places to see on my September vacation. :0

[ellarien]

Seriously, the Gallery is well worth a few hours if you're in London. I used to go in there on Saturday afternoons after I'd been book shopping on Charing Cross Road, and practice scribbling down descriptions of the portraits.

[gwyneira.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes, the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery are very high on my list of must-sees.

What are your favorite bookstores in London? I expect to be buying lots of books.

[ellarien]

It's been nearly eight years, and when I briefly visited last year I was travelling very light and deliberately not buying books. I used to like Murder One, now gone, and the Books Etc on Charing Cross Road which is now something else -- maybe Borders? Really, you can't go far wrong just wandering down Charing Cross Road from the Tottenham Court Road corner. Foyle's is interesting and huge, but at least in 1995 it was rather strange -- the books were shelved by publisher, and there was some arcanely complicated system for actually buying anything. There are quite a few used and antiquarian shops down there, as well.

For SF, Forbidden Planet on New Oxford Street is highly spoken of, but you have to squeeze past a lot of action figures and stuff to get to the books. The attraction there may be largely American imports, which presumably wouldn't interest you as much.