r/mildyinteresting • u/waiha • May 01 '26

humankind hiccups 😅 Well this aged like milk.

Post image

Stumbled upon this while clearing out the attic.

She visited my primary school in Edinburgh shortly after releasing TPS. The girl in front of me (my friend and train-to-school comrade) was Southeast Asian and has an incredibly elaborate sounding name. When Joanne screwed up her face when my friend gave her her name for the signature, I laughed. This is how she decided to sign my copy.

I was laughing at you, JK.

EDIT: It’s on EBay.

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17

u/crazygecko247 May 02 '26

TIL the original UK version was called the Philosopher’s Stone. I only knew of the Sorcerer’s stone. Which is dumb they changed it for the US version.

9

u/No_Lemon_3116 May 02 '26

They even made one version of the movie for America where they say "sorcerer's" and another for the rest of the world where they say "philosopher's."

6

u/D0wnInAlbion May 02 '26

There are a few differences between the US version and the UK version. Nothing material but they aren't the same text.

1

u/Demostravius4 May 03 '26

I had no idea who Dean was supposed to be when the film came out as he's not described as black in the UK Philosophers Stone.

3

u/Dragonfly_pin May 02 '26

The US version was all translated to US English for American children. I remember the ‘candy’ tasted of ‘boogers’.

They thought American children would think ‘philosophers’ were boring.

They thought American children were really stupid.

3

u/planefried May 02 '26

Perhaps fewer people would have burned the books for promoting satanism and withcraft if they'd kept the original title. 

3

u/kendallvarent May 02 '26

Turns out many American adults are also really stupid :/

2

u/Bulky_Writer_2244 May 02 '26

There's been loads of movies and even music albums over the decades that have seen the US release titled something different from the UK/everywhere else release. Something to do with marketing, and lower expectations/estimations for the American audience, if I remember correct.

2

u/daveagill May 02 '26

They translated the original English text to French for France, Spanish for Spain and American for America.

1

u/Airportsnacks May 02 '26

Publishers do this all the time. I came to the UK for a holiday when I was 10 in the 90s and bought a bunch of babysitter club books because they all had mum, sweets, crisps, and kerb. I guess British kids can't handle curb. Or, publishers just change words depending on the audience. 

1

u/daveagill May 02 '26

Yeah, in Britland kerb and curb are two different words entirely, some would even pronounce them slightly differently. One is a type of stone edging and one is a verb meaning to restrain/limit.

1

u/crazygecko247 May 02 '26

Yeah I’m aware this happens. A more bizarre example is how in Ted lasso they change the British characters saying Americanisms because it was meant to be an American show. It’s funny the media world thinks that would be “better” for the audience. It’s so odd for Keeley to say “parking lot” instead of “car park” for example.

1

u/Late-Feeling6363 May 02 '26

I thought this was another mandala affect for a second lol

1

u/apriljeangibbs May 02 '26

The cover art was different too. I’m Canadian but my mom brought back the first book from a business trip in Texas. All the other fourth graders were in quite the tizzy over my “special” Harry Potter book lol.

1

u/Fun_Butterfly_420 May 02 '26

I’m impressed it took this long

1

u/Demostravius4 May 03 '26

US publishers thought they would be too stupid to understand.

Going by the comments in here about Shacklebolt I'm starting to get it.

1

u/redditerator7 May 08 '26

They thought that Americans are dumb and they were right. Judging by the comments they should’ve adapted the names as well.