24-09-2022, 11:17 PM
(24-09-2022, 09:58 PM)Moz Wrote: I find it incredibly annoying - as would most viewers. It’s a British channel, it should use British terms, not American terms.
You’ll be arguing next they should use “sidewalk”, “flashlight” and “diaper” in case the poor global viewer don’t know what “pavement”, “torch” and “nappy” mean!
They may as well just roll over and die. You
'x minister' isn't an American term, with no US cabinet positions referred to as minister (the US equivalent of finance minister is the Treasury Secretary). It is however the generic English language term for a government minister position as it is easily understandable regardless of which country you live in (many of which have their own naming standards for such positions).
While the BBC is a British broadcaster, it is also one that broadcasts internationally and so when doing so needs to serve both audiences - this should include choosing terminology that is understable for both audiences. There are times when the 'generic' term would be unhelpful for UK audiences - they should use 'home affairs minister' rather than the more standard 'interior minister' for the Home Secretary - but referring to the Chancellor of the Exchequer as finance minister isn't one of them, regardless of whether your personal feelings. Chancellor is a particularly opaque term for viewers not familiar with British politics and, dare I say, finance minister is more intuitive for low political attention UK viewers as well.