Writer's Workshop General Chat Thread

[LightningTopaz]

Or just say the incantation and zap.

[unrepentantAuthor]

Private-life issues, don't ask. Might not be on as much as normal. Too busy screaming into pillows.
Nothing interesting other than that.

[Lugion]

"Philosopher's Stone"? I've only known the book to be called Sorcerer's Stone, which sounds cooler, imo.

They're the same book. It's just called The Sorcerer's Stone in the US.

[Kelleo]

They're the same book. It's just called The Sorcerer's Stone in the US.

I know that. I just never knew it had a second title.

[RaiThunder]

Hey everyone! Just popping in for some quick self-advertisement. I've created a tumblr for my characters, a sort of ask/rp blog. So please, come check it out and interact with the characters!
http://under-onesky.tumblr.com/

:droop: Outside of that, finals are finally over and I'm moving home - how's everyone else's summer?

[RaiThunder]

They're the same book. It's just called The Sorcerer's Stone in the US.

I know that. I just never knew it had a second title.

Does anyone know why the US version has a different title? That's always confused me.

[LightningTopaz]

Wikipedia to the rescue!

The publishers were concerned that most Americans were not familiar enough with the term "Philosopher's Stone" to gain the correct impression from the title (the renaming of books for international distribution is a common practise, even for highly known and internationally recognised authors).

[Kelleo]

As I said, The Sorcerer's Stone sounds cooler anyway. Also, it's the title used in the movie. :D

[Selemena]

...Which, if you ask me, is just silly, because the thing in question is actually called the Philosopher's Stone, and I've never heard of it being called that other thing outside of Harry Potter.

Interestingly, they change a bunch of other minor things as well. I have a copy of the Sorceror's Stone as well as the Philosopher's Stone (no idea why lol) and, for example, any mention of Harry's 'fringe' (which pops up in relation to his scar/fast-growing hair a lot) is replaced with 'bangs', which I think is an utterly stupid Americanism. Oh, and Dumbledore's delightful 'sherbet lemon' fascination turns into 'lemon drops' which is just plain silly.

@Kelleo: The movie title was changed for America too. Everywhere else it's the Philosopher's Stone.

[Gama]

Private-life issues, don't ask. Might not be on as much as normal. Too busy screaming into pillows.
Nothing interesting other than that.

Hope things get better for you soon.

They're the same book. It's just called The Sorcerer's Stone in the US.

I know that. I just never knew it had a second title.

How can you know that they are the same book, and it is called something different in the US, but not know it has a second title? Isn't knowing the former pretty much exactly the same thing as knowing the latter? I'm confused.

[Kelleo]

And I think "Philosopher's Stone" sounds plain silly.

@Kelleo: The movie title was changed for America too. Everywhere else it's the Philosopher's Stone.

Then how come in the movie, the characters also refer to it as the Sorcerer's Stone? Don't tell me they refilmed every scene it's mentioned in. I would think that that would just be too much work.

@Gastly's Mama;: Because I guessed that "Philosopher's Stone" and "Sorcerer's Stone" were the same thing. I didn't know for sure.

[Legacy]

And I think "Philosopher's Stone" sounds plain silly.

@Kelleo: The movie title was changed for America too. Everywhere else it's the Philosopher's Stone.

Then how come in the movie, the characters also refer to it as the Sorcerer's Stone? Don't tell me they refilmed every scene it's mentioned in. I would think that that would just be too much work.
@Gastly's Mama;: Because I guessed that "Philosopher's Stone" and "Sorcerer's Stone" were the same thing. I didn't know for sure.

Wasn't it only known as the "Philosopher's Stone" for the British release of the book?

US release of book, it was changed to "Sorcerer's Stone."

And obviously, since the movie was made after the books, it was "Sorcerer's Stone."



Also...

[Gama]

And I think "Philosopher's Stone" sounds plain silly.

@Kelleo: The movie title was changed for America too. Everywhere else it's the Philosopher's Stone.

Then how come in the movie, the characters also refer to it as the Sorcerer's Stone? Don't tell me they refilmed every scene it's mentioned in. I would think that that would just be too much work.

@Gastly's Mama;: Because I guessed that "Philosopher's Stone" and "Sorcerer's Stone" were the same thing. I didn't know for sure.

They genuinely did refilm every scene where they referred to the Philosopher's Stone. Everywhere outside the US got it as the "Philosopher's Stone".

And I think "Philosopher's Stone" sounds plain silly.

@Kelleo: The movie title was changed for America too. Everywhere else it's the Philosopher's Stone.

Then how come in the movie, the characters also refer to it as the Sorcerer's Stone? Don't tell me they refilmed every scene it's mentioned in. I would think that that would just be too much work.
@Gastly's Mama;: Because I guessed that "Philosopher's Stone" and "Sorcerer's Stone" were the same thing. I didn't know for sure.

Wasn't it only known as the "Philosopher's Stone" for the British release of the book?

US release of book, it was changed to "Sorcerer's Stone."

And obviously, since the movie was made after the books, it was "Sorcerer's Stone."

That's not right, Legacy. Only the US got "Sorcerer's Stone", for some reason the publishers felt that everyone but Americans would get the "Philosopher's Stone", I don't know why. International publication firms (in books, TV, movies etc.) always dumb things down for Americans. Personally, I don't think it's necessary, and I think part of it is just an excuse to give American media firms more stuff to do (it justifies remakes of British TV shows for American audiences, so they can "understand" them - justifies the use of an unnecessary regionalisation team for the US version of Harry Potter, etc.) and is just insulting to everyday Americans.

And, yeah, as I said, they literally did refilm every scene where the Stone was mentioned - so Americans get it as the Sorcerer's Stone and everyone else gets the Philosopher's Stone. Stupid, I know. I refuse to believe that the American population is genuinely so much less intelligent and knowledgeable than the rest of the world that all of that effort is at all necessary. But, I'm not American, so I guess I don't know - what do you guys think?

[Lugion]

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So the movie WAS known by the "Philosopher's Stone" title.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Apparently, Scholastic decided American children were too ADD to read anything about a Philosopher.

Philosopher's stone - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And, finally, the "philosopher's stone" is an old concept related to alchemy that supposedly had the power to convert lead into gold. So there you go, that's why the book was originally titled Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Honestly, I prefer that title, because that was the author's intent, but it's not really a big deal.

[ectoBiologist]

i'm an american and i'm very unpatriotic. :U yes, there are a lot of dumb, bigoted people here. but there are people like that everywhere; i just think there are more people like that here.

eh, whatever. i've never liked my country. i'm going to move to my homeland (well, my ancestor's homeland), canada, when i'm older.