Brits vs. North Amercians, or But we can't say that here

While in Spain the people whose house we'd swapped with had a cable package that was all BBC, all the time. It was great: we got to see a bunch of Top Gear episodes we hadn't seen before.

There was a commercial that I loved: It featured charming young ladies in bikinis, short shorts, and tight skirts all shot from behind. It was, of course, a commercial for their running shoes.

As I watched it, it occurred to me that this commercial couldn't be shown in North America because it was too explicit. It wasn't the images that was the problem, however: it was the language. The voice-over kept emphasizing how wearing these running shoes would give you a great "bum".

Sure enough, when the commercial showed up on North American TV, the young ladies were now getting a great "butt". Still an 'earthy' word but not offensive in North America, apparently.

And don't get me started on trying to take "fanny" from North America to England".

Reading or read

• Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell: A Novel (Audio) by Susanna Clarke and Simon Prebble