Omission of definite article

[Kelli Slimp]

Mark, that's a good point, and I also noted that the relative "permanence"
of one's stay at each institution seems to have an effect on whether "the"
is omitted or used. "In prison" is a fairly permanent state, as is "in
school," as one usually spends the first 20 years of life in some kind of
school. I wonder if that has anything to do with it?

ks

On Tue, Jan 19, 2010 at 1:41 AM, Mark Mandel <thnidu at gmail.com> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Mark Mandel <thnidu at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Omission of definite article
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Note that all of these are institutions, and the phrase refers to specific
> type of assocation with them. When someone's sick they are "in hospital"
> (UK) or "in the hospital" (usual US); but if you go to visit them there you
> are "at the hospital", and if there's a call for the patient's doctor, it's
> "Is Dr. ___ in the hospital?"
>
> We use the same construction in "in college" and "in school", and I believe
> in the UK they say "in (or at?) university".
>
> Mark Mandel
>
> On Mon, Jan 18, 2010 at 5:57 PM, Kelli Slimp <kellislimp at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Thanks, Jonathan. That's sort of what I had discovered as well. I did a
> > little assignment on that subject, and your summary is in keeping with my
> > questionnaire's findings.
> >
> > ks
> >
> > On Mon, Jan 18, 2010 at 10:53 PM, Jonathan Lighter
> > <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>wrote:
> >
> > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > > -----------------------
> > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > > Subject:      Re: Omission of definite article
> > >
> > >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> > > Welcome, Kelli. And yes, some have noticed.
> > >
> > > I can't say just when I began to note the replacement of "in the
> > hospital"
> > > by "in hospital" on cable news, but it's been a few years.  "In future"
> > may
> > > be more frequent. Yet "out of hospital" still sounds very UK.
> > >
> > > The changeover is not very far advanced, though, even among the
> > chattering
> > > classes, and I'd still be surprised to hear anyone beyond the media or
> > > lacking a strong British-Irish connection omit the article.
> > >
> > > I almost said "Anglo-Irish," which sounds fine to me, but I didn't want
> > to
> > > offend any Scots, Welsh, or Manx readers, for example.
> > >
> > > JL
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > On Mon, Jan 18, 2010 at 5:23 PM, Kelli Slimp <kellislimp at gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> > >
> > > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > > > -----------------------
> > > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > > Poster:       Kelli Slimp <kellislimp at GMAIL.COM>
> > > > Subject:      Omission of definite article
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > > >
> > > > Hi all!
> > > >
> > > > I'm a M.Phil student of Linguistics at Trinity College Dublin and
> just
> > > > joined the list serve a few days ago.
> > > >
> > > > It's been entertaining following the various conversations, and I'd
> > love
> > > to
> > > > hear your feedback on a little question of my own...
> > > >
> > > > I've noticed that the British and Irish press, as well as speakers in
> > > > casual
> > > > conversation, use the phrase "in hospital," effectively omitting the
> > > > definite article, much the way we would say someone is "in prison" or
> > "in
> > > > jail," while Americans would more generally say someone is "in
> > > > *the*hospital.
> > > >
> > > > Is the US press beginning to drop "the" as well? What about citizens
> in
> > > > casual speech? What have you all noticed?
> > > >
> > > > Thanks in advance for your musings.
> > > >
> > > > Regards,
> > > >
> > > > Kelli Slimp
> > > >
> > > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --
> > > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> > truth."
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > >
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org