Belated reply re: "the" wife

[Dennis R. Preston]

Ain't we done this duplication = "authentic, etc..." before (outside
college talk)? Recall the old TV ad where a couple argue about an air
condiitioner (actually some sort of air freshener), which ends with the
memorable line: "It's not an air conditioner air conditioner, it's an air
conditioner air conditioner."

dInIs dInIs


>Hi Bob (couldn't resist, take a drink),
>
>I would agree that "in college" is a state along the same lines as "in the
>hospital".  The many professors on this list may be "at the college", but I
>suspect few of them are "in college".  Then again, they can't be "at college"
>either, because you can only be "at college" when you're "in college".
>
>Or is this just me?
>
>Reminds me of some list of college student terms I remember reading awhile
>back.  The term that got me was "home home", which means where one's family
>lives, as opposed to one's dorm room or apartment.
>
>Andrea
>
>Bob Haas wrote:
>>
>> Andrea, would you address this state of being vs. location phenomenon in
>>regards to
>> higher education?  I'm thinking of the British "at university" vs. the more
>> American "in college."  Or have I got it wrong?
>>
>> "A. Vine" wrote:
>>
>> > But "in the hospital" is an expression, having no bearing on whether there
>>is
>> > one or many area hospital(s).  Not sure if "in the bed" is an expression
>>in your
>> > example.
>> >
>> > Perhaps to get away from the connotation of "the" referring to a known
>>hospital,
>> > the English say "in hospital".  It's more of a state, as in "in school"
>>vs. "at
>> > school".  When talking about my father who is a doctor, I don't say, "he's
>>in
>> > the hospital", I say "he's at the hospital".
>> >
>> > Pardon, I have vague recollections that this has already been discussed.
>> >
>> > Andrea
>>
>> --
>>
>> Bob Haas
>> Department of English
>> High Point University
>> University of North Carolina at Greensboro
>>
>>                          "Shun the frumious Bandersnatch!"

Dennis R. Preston
Professor of Linguistics
Department of Linguistics and Languages
Michigan State University
East Lansing MI 48824-1027 USA
preston at pilot.msu.edu
Office: (517)353-0740
Fax: (517)432-2736