Hospital, university, college, jail

[nkped 1,208]

One for the collective. From what I can gather from the BBC and other semi reliable sources, in the UK, one goes to hospital or to university. By contrast in the U.S., people go to the hospital or a hospital. Much the same with university, although "the" is usually associated with the name of a particular university. However, keeping in mind that a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, we do go to college or jail (well, no, it's not actually either or).

 

Whereof this divergence?

Edited January 11, 2018 by nkped

[yorta2 694]

WTF?

[Chang_paarp 253]

Hospital and university are more generic terms in English as opposed to American. eg "Fred had an accident and was taken to hospital where they patched him up." this does not identify which hospital, as opposed to "Fred was taken to the hospital" which infers there is only one to chose from. Another way of putting this situation " Fred went to St Georges Hospital" which identifies the particular palace of medical attention.

 

The same can be used with respect to university. "My son is enrolling in university next month." or "My son is enrolling in the University of Western Australia next month.". There are more than one universities in the the local area so the second sentence is more specific as it answers the next question, "Which university will he attend?"

 

As to which is correct I could not care less or is that I could care less?

[atlas2 4,329]

 

As to which is correct I could not care less or is that I could care less?

 

 

'Could not care less' means to me that logically you don't care at all......

 

'I could care less' suggests you care 'somewhat' already.

 

Whatever? I'm guessing you, 'don't give a toss'........or should that be, 'Don't give a fuck'?..........

 

 

 

This could go on a long time.........nkped !

[Bushcraft 2,591]

Ooh lovely, a grammar and semantics thread, this should end up in Purgatory fairly quickly. I should warn nitpickers now that any attempt to censor me for e.g. ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I will not put!

[BigusDicus 9,881]

Disparaging the Queen's English? Up with this I shall not put...

[keyman 1,413]

Well, the British press always said Pattaya was full of pedants........................................ or was that perverts?

 

This thread just goes to show, they're one and the same!!

 

 

KM

[Kev 178]

Someone forgot to take their meds tody me thinks :-)

[SimplySam 517]

Someone forgot to take their meds tody me thinks :-)

 

I think it was the alcohol tax increase raising price of beer Chang a baht or three.

[short 215]

If they get under your skin, just tell them to go have a fag and they will thank you for the idea.

[atlas2 4,329]

Well, the British press always said Pattaya was full of pedants........................................ or was that perverts?

 

This thread just goes to show, they're one and the same!!

 

 

KM

 

 

Pedants are important........

 

'Let's eat Hoy.'

 

'Let's eat, Hoy.'

 

Correct punctuation could save Hoy's life.

Edited January 12, 2018 by atlas2

[redwood13 56]

Is there a reason the British omit the article when they “go to hospital”?

I've had a conversation re this topic with my mate from Edinburgh and we've never reached any conclusion, but here's a discussion from the Net regarding same.

https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/19604/is-there-a-reason-the-british-omit-the-article-when-they-go-to-hospital

[SimplySam 517]

 

Is there a reason the British omit the article when they “go to hospital”?

I've had a conversation re this topic with my mate from Edinburgh and we've never reached any conclusion, but here's a discussion from the Net regarding same.

https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/19604/is-there-a-reason-the-british-omit-the-article-when-they-go-to-hospital

 

It's one less thing for them to have to Google.

[BigusDicus 9,881]

 

 

Pedants are important........

 

'Let's eat Hoy.'

 

'Let's eat, Hoy.'

 

Correct punctuation could save Hoy's life.

 

Or cause her cunningual depravation...