The Office is an originally British television programme, of which an American version has also been made. The first episode of the British programme aired in 2001 and the first of the American in 2005. The British programme only continued for two seasons, while the American version has just begun its fourth.

The pilot episodes of both versions of the programme were very similar, with the American script closely imitating that of the British original. From the second episode onwards, however, the American programme has its own scripts for each episode, and the events and characters begin to move to a different direction from the British equivalents. For this reason the pilot episodes are the best source for comparisons of culture-related and language differences. Thus, the examples below are from the pilot episodes, unless otherwise indicated.

Comparing the language and culture of two countries an ocean apart is not an easy task. There are bound to be many cultural references, as well as pronunciation and vocabulary differences, that will not be registered by people not belonging to the targeted audience of the programme. Some of these problematic differences are cited below.

The Main Characters in The Office

The Office depicts the every-day life of the Slough, Berkshire/Scranton, PA¹ branches of the fictional Wernham-Hogg Paper Company/Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. The regional manager, David Brent/Michael Scott, claims to be "a friend first, and a boss second, probably an entertainer third". His second man, the assistant to the regional manager, is Gareth Keenan/Dwight Schrute. The receptionist Dawn Tinsley/Pam Beesley is engaged to Lee/Roy, who works in the company warehouse downstairs. Tim Canterbury/Jim Halpert, who works in the sales department, is Dawn's/Pam's best friend. Tim/Jim and Dawn/Pam provide the central romantic tension in the programme. In the pilot episode a new worker is introduced: Ricky Howard/Ryan Howard, "the temp". Of course there are other workers in the offices, but only the main characters, cited above, are relevant to the purposes of this paper.

British Slang and Some Suggestions for "Translating" Them

In the original pilot the manager David informs everyone of the wild events of the previous night. It is established that both he and his assistant Gareth tend to go drinking quite often. Relating to the scenes where they tell of their adventures, many British slang words are introduced:

• They get rowdy after a few pints: although pint as a unit of measurement is also used in American English, going for a pint is a British phrase not used in AmE.
• Bladdered: in AmE this might be replaced with, for example, drunk or smashed.
• "Absolutely mental" and "that nutter" could perhaps be replaced with crazy or mad.

Other British words and phrases presented include:

• Mate is used to refer to friends ("I went out with his mates") as well as to any male person one needs to address. "Hey, mate." is changed to "Hey, man." in the US version.
• "I don't give a monkey's" is a shortened, more polite version of monkey's arse, meaning "I don't care".
• Derogatory words such as twat, tosser and a Benny have various correspondents in American English, such as idiot and dumb ass.
• Love is not a derogatory word as such, but it is a somewhat demeaning way to address an adult female, as seen in a scene in episode two of the British programme, where David Brent's boss visits the warehouse and the workers there call her love. The offensive impact of the word is greatly intensified by the following comment: "What she needs is a good shagging!" Shag is also a British slang word, which means "to have sexual intercourse".
• "Wank me off before you go-go" is a pun based on the similarity of the words wank (to masturbate) and wake, which is the word really used in the alluded song by the British band Wham! (released in 1984).
• Ta means thank you.
  
• "Give me a ring." would most likely be changed to "Give me a call." for American viewers.

American Version Peculiarities

Some scenes in the American pilot were not present in the original British pilot at all. One of these include Michael's Hitler impression, which consists of him walking around the office with his left hand raised and making strange sounds that he obviously thinks sound like German. Another scene added for the American pilot is one where Michael lists his heroes: Bob Hope, Abraham Lincoln, Bono and God. At least the first two of these are very American, one being a famous entertainer and the other a former president. Bono is actually an Irishman, but he has been a very visible person in the United States in recent years and even met President Bush on several occasions.

In the second episode, Michael makes the office workers play a game where they need to attach to their forehead a piece of paper on which a certain race is written, and then treat one another according to the race on their forehead and try and guess which race is written on their own card. Michael explains to the camera that he did not include Arabs, because "that would be too explosive" and it is too soon, adding "Maybe next year. [...] You know, the ball's in their court."

There are many allusions to different television shows, such as the "shatatatataa" running noise, referring to Six Million Dollar Man. There is also a scene where Michael asks the temp Ryan if he knows the show Punk'd, which is an inside joke: the actor playing Ryan (B.J. Novak) has also been a cast member in Punk'd. In the second episode Michael wonders "Where was my Oprah moment?", alluding to the famous American talk show The Oprah Winfrey Show.

In the UK programme Gareth Keenan explains that he had been for three years in the Territorial Army (the Volunteer reserve force of the British Army) and in the US version this has been changed to Dwight Schrute being a volunteer Sheriff's Deputy on the weekends. Dwight has many peculiar characteristics, which are extended far from the original character of Gareth: he never smiles, is not emphatic, has a can of pepper spray, throwing stars and nunchucks in his office desk drawer, believes in the survival of the fittest and also believes himself always to be right.

Despite all this, he is very gullible. Some of his characteristics seem to be explained by his ancestry: "My father's name was Dwight Schrute. My grandfather's name was Dwight Schrute. His father's name: Dwide Schrude. Amish" (Drug). Dwight runs a beet farm with his cousin Mose, who dresses like Amish people traditionally do and has the sort of beard usually associated with the Amish. For comedic reasons of the show, it might be argued that the Amish are an easy target, since they are known for their refusal to own televisions or use the Internet and for this reason might be less likely to complain of the way they are presented.

Changes Made for the American Version Concerning Cultural Differences

The most notable change in the American pilot is the deletion of most signs of alcohol use, which is one of the main topics in the British pilot. The workers in the American version do go to the bar together after work, but usually only on Fridays, to celebrate the ending of the work week. British style pub lunches might seem to the American viewer as being something only a dedicated alcoholic would attend to.

Another important change is the one concerning the different ethnic atmosphere. For example, in a scene where the manager David/Michael tries to convince his employees that they will not be downsized, he tells them that "I'm the head of this family". In the British version this is followed by "[...] not gonna fiddle with my children" to which no one pays any particular attention; while in the American version Michael says something similar to "[...] you ain gonna be messin wi my chillin", which causes a rather lengthy silence in the room and a grim shake of the head from the only African-American person present.

Later on, in episode two (Diversity) of the US version, Michael gets into a great amount of trouble because he imitates the African-American comedian Chris Rock's performance, in which Rock explains how black people are actually more racist than white people. Although Michael's version is much "cleaner" than the original one (for example, he does not use the "n-word" which Rock constantly does), there is such a strong response to this act, that people complain about it to Corporate.

Michael repeatedly treats people according to certain stereotypes. For example, he is quite sure that his employee Stanley (who is the only African American worker in the office) was raised "in the ghetto" and is excellent in playing basketball, neither of which is true. Michael seems to be disappointed by Stanley's lack of "African American characteristics", since Stanley does not celebrate Kwanzaa or speak Black English. There is a visible contrast between Stanley and the other African Americans in the programme, as all the others speak Black English and work below the office, in the warehouse.

Other Differences Between the British and American Versions

In the British pilot, when discussing the possibility of reducing workers from the branch, the word redundancies is used nine times, while downsizing only three times and only in context of downsizing the branch, not individual people. In the US version, downsizing is the only word used (13 times), both in reference to the branch and to the people.

After Tim/Jim has put Gareth's/Dwight's stapler in jelly/Jell-O, there are a couple of jokes made concerning desserts. In both versions the line "You should've put him in custardy." (instead of custody) is used, but the line preceding this is "It's only a trifling matter." in the British version, but "I have always been your biggest flan." in the American version. The reference to a British dessert called trifle might have gone unnoticed by American viewers, but apparently flan is somewhat more familiar.

Most allusions have been changed for the American version. While the UK boss (on first meeting the temp Ricky) makes a reference to a well-known British soap called EastEnders and the relationship of the programme's two characters, Ricky and Bianca, this would not convey any real meaning to most people outside the United Kingdom. In the American programme, the reference is changed to Moe Howard of the Three Stooges, because the temp's surname happens to be Howard.

In the pilot episode David/Michael mentions a young foreigner whose first job in the country was at their company, and who hardly spoke English. The nationality of this person is Greek in the British version, and Guatemalan in the American version. Both countries are "exotic" and also close enough to their respective audiences to appear believable. Then David/Michael states that they eventually had to let this person go, because "He was rubbish!"/"He sucked!" both of which are clearly definable as belonging to their intended audiences' vocabulary.

The manager's boss in the UK version is called Jennifer Taylor-Clarke and in the US version Jan Levinson-Gould. David jokes that he calls her Camilla Parker Bowles, alluding to the wife of Charles, Prince of Wales (although they had not yet been married at the time the episode was written, shot and aired). In relation to the original scene, Michael in the US version tells us that he calls his boss Hillary Rodham Clinton, referring to the former First Lady. The key points of this joke seem to be the two-part surname of the Head Office/Corporate manager and her status of power, which the more famous counterparts also possess (on much larger scale, of course).

Other vocabulary changes that have been made include:

UK	US
"you big poof"	"you big queen"
to give an official warning	to reprimand
meeting room	conference room
Head Office	Corporate
"Salomon's here"	"judge is in session"
"you wanker"	"you're a jerk"
jelly	Jell-O

Pronunciation Differences Between the Two Series

An expert might find some differences in the dialects of the American Office, but to a casual viewer the characters appear to be speaking a "standard" version of American English, except for the African American warehouse workers. In the British version, however, the workers speak with a clear dialect. Key features of the pronunciation in The Office include glottal stops (in words like "nutter"), pronouncing 'th' as 'f' and the word-final 'g' as 'k' (making "nothing" sound more like "nuffink"). This dialect is probably a form of Estuary English, possibly with some Cockney influence. David also speaks this dialect, even with the Head Office representative, telling her about a "nobby bird" (an upper class or stylish woman) he had apparently met. In the American version, Michael sometimes tries to joke using non-standard words such as "yeppers" and this is not appreciated by his superior.

Final Observations

The much larger audience of the American version seems to have affected the script of the programme, since less slang and fewer derogatory jokes are used and the language is much more politically correct. Possibly in the UK one might more easily be understood even when using non-standard language, since the country is much smaller in size than the United States. Because of this one might conclude that there is less dialectal variation, at least concerning vocabulary.

One example of the difference in the two scripts can be found in the pilot episode, when the receptionist is first introduced. In the original, less-politically-correct version, David notes how early the workers arrive to the office and then concludes by joking how at one time or another every member of the staff has been "working at the crack of Dawn", making a "funny" reference to the receptionist's name.

In the American version this scene is much milder; Michael only jokes about her being long in the company: "If you think she's cute now, you should've seen her a couple of years ago!" — after which he makes a growling sound. As this can also be seen as inappropriate behaviour, especially from a manager, it is not nearly as offensive as the British manager's allusion to the receptionist's private parts.

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Notes

1. The slashes indicate that the first example is from the original and the second from the American version.
2. The two UK episodes have no actual titles on the BBC DVD which was used as the source for the British references, therefore they are listed only as "Episode 1" and "Episode 2". Only the two pilot episodes were compared directly, as mentioned in the introduction, since from the second episode onwards the American scripts have little likeness to the British scripts. The British "Episode 2" and the two other American episodes have been used only to show selected other language/cultural differences between the UK and US versions of the series.

Works Cited

• Diversity Day. [US version; 'equivalent' in the series sequence to the UK "Episode 2" below]. Season 1, Episode 2. Viewed 24 October 2007.
• Drug Testing. [US version]. Season 2, Episode 20. Viewed 27 October 2007.
• Episode 1². [The U.K. 'Pilot' episode.] The Office. The Complete First Series. Written and Directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. 2001. DVD. London: BBC Worldwide Ltd, 2002.
• Episode 2. The Office. The Complete First Series. Written and Directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. 2001. DVD. London: BBC Worldwide Ltd, 2002.
• Pilot. [US version]. Season 1, Episode 1. Viewed 24 October 2007.