theatre

[Douglas G. Wilson]

>Nobody's mentioned the fact that there's a related "pretentious" or
>upscale use of CENTRE in the U.S. (as opposed to Britain and Canada
>where it is of course the standard spellling).  I've come across
>various uses of this for city or shopping "centres", probably in some
>trendy suburban setting, although I can't think of where at the
>moment.  Can anyone?

I don't know of any "centres" of this sort here in Pittsburgh.

But my tax man is located in the Centre City Tower in downtown Pittsburgh.
This doesn't seem to be a new or 'trendy' building, and I don't know whence
the name. There is also a Centre Avenue in Pittsburgh. The huge Penn State
campus (at State College, Pennsylvania) is in Centre County, I believe, and
the local newspaper there is the "Centre Daily Times". Probably some of
these names are old enough that this spelling was usual, or a common
alternative.

I had not particularly taken "centre" or "theatre" as 'pretentious' myself
-- I always thought of these as neutral (although locally uncommon)
free-alternative spellings -- but I can see Larry's point.

A quick Web search shows the City Centre Bldg., Ogden UT, the Sheraton City
Centre Hotel, Washington DC, the Holiday Inn City Centre, Chicago IL, the
Holiday Inn Bayside City Centre, Clearwater FL, the Elgin City Centre
Motel, Elgin OR, the Radisson Hotel City Centre, Indianapolis IN, the City
Centre Mall, Middletown OH, etc., etc.

-- Doug Wilson