How come they call "Harry Potter & the Philosopher's Stone" the "Sorceror's Stone" in America?

Question

Can't Americans understand the first title or something?

Answer 1

Cause some idiot in this country thought no one would know what the Philosopher's stone. Let's forget the fact that during the 1980s the two terms were used interchangeably for the same item, so that those who grew up in that time could tell younger folks what the Philosopher's stone was. And I heard the Philosopher's stone used occasionally in the early to mid '90's with a description that let folks know it was the Sorceror's stone, so there would have been younger folks who would have heard of it. We can also forget the fact that Rowling gave plenty of describtion in the book so those who had never heard of it would have known what it was. It was believed people in this country would only know what the Sorceror's stone was so they went for that title instead.

Answer 2

This would be an example of changing the name of a title for localization. Philosopher's Stone was taken from the famed alchemical catalyst which could turn metals like lead into gold.

The people localizing the book were a bit unsure if the average American reader could relate the concept of the title to that of a magic-themed book. If the whole selling point of the book revolves around a boy involved in the wizarding world, you'd want to make sure the readers know that, right?

Anyway, to make a long story short, the American publishing company Scholastic, which picked up Harry Potter for release in America, wanted that title changed to the "Sorcerer's Stone" so people could better identify with its magical setting. I don't know how much of a difference it would have made either way, but at least it worked out in the end.

Answer 3

It's actually the other way around. PS is the original title for the English version of the novel, but when Scholastic looked to publish it in the US, "philosopher" was a term generally used to describe a scholar of philosophy and it's closely related fields. It was not particularly linked with the wizardry and magical alchemy that was so central to the book. So after J.K. Rowling suggested they used the term "sorcerer" instead, Scholastic agreed on adjusting the tiJK to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. I hope this is the answer you were looking for :)

Answer 4

There's usually a marketing reason for changes like this. "Sorcerer" probably tested better than "Philosopher" in the US. Perhaps it sounds more exciting.

True story: A few years ago, there was a British movie called "The Madness of King George III." American audiences, thought the "III" meant it was a sequel, and they had missed the first two movies, so it was subsequently renamed "The Madness of King George" in the US.

Answer 5

The editors chose to... edit it. They thought that "philosopher" wouldn't appeal to Americans.
It's "philosopher" every where else, even places where there's no English. And that's not the only difference between UK and US when it comes to the Potter books. It's all about what would sell more.

America is the only place that doesn't follow the metric system, why stop there?

Answer 6

It's because the American publishers of harry potter preferred to use sorcerer's instead of philosopher in the books title. It's pretty trivial but that's how it happened.

Answer 7

Same with how the Americans refer to the subway as a subway and the British call it a tube. I found it funny in class the other day when the American professor had to explain what a queue was to the class (I am British-educated), because Americans call it a "line"

Answer 8

americans like to abbreviate anything they can. "Sorceror's Stone" sounds more interesting than Philosopher
It has to do with marketing also. The latter "sells"

Answer 9

I actually read something about that and apparently their thinking was it would be more appealling to Americans to use "Sorcerors" than "Philosophers"..no idea why!!

Answer 10

they don't want to.. they have to make it kid friendly.. they can make a sorceror's stone whatever they want to..

the philosophers stone has a religious background in it's history...