Those crazy Anglos like to mix and match when they use the word 'the' in a way that generally seems to contradict my personal favored use of the word. As can be expected, this breaks down into two groups: times when they don't use the word 'the' and I think they should, and times they use it when it doesn't seem needed.
Perhaps the two most common words that don't go the 'the' love that I think should are hospital and university. People here 'go to hospital' or 'were in hospital'. The university situation is slightly more complex, but I've noticed that people don't say 'I went to the University of Washington', but as the names of universities are slightly more flexible here, they might say 'I went to uni in Washington', (but their schools aren't states, they are generally city names). To avoid having to use the word 'uni', which to me still seems like it should by short for uniform, I opt to state where I got certain degrees, so I say 'I got my masters at Southampton'. It's a bit sly, I know, but I often find myself in situations where I need to slightly rephrase things to uphold my dignity as a speaker of the dominant form of English.
Then there's the opposite side of things. Banks having been mentioned frequently in the news recently (okay, constantly), I couldn't help but notice how banks are referred to. Halifax is called 'the Halifax', Nationwide 'the Nationwide'. So in a sentence 'the Halifax are cutting jobs' or 'people at the Nationwide are having a bad day'. What I find odd is not so much the word 'the', but the omission of the word bank at the end. They never call it 'the Halifax bank' or 'the Nationwide Building Society', like we would say 'the Bank of America'. But thinking more about it, we would never call something 'the Safeway', it's still just 'Safeway'. Hmm. I just don't know. Perhaps I'm just being a bit nit-picky and not making any sense...
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I share in the difficulty with the "the" problem. Interestingly, Americans will say "I went to college" and think nothing of it, but won't say the same using the uni word.
I have the same issue with those Californians that refer to "the I5". I hear it sneaking into local usage and it makes my backside pucker up.
Ah, I've dared to refer to 'the I5' and nearly been assaulted for my trouble. What's the deal with the I5 being such a big deal?
As an Oregon to California transplant, I most commonly hear I5 referred to as simply, "the 5."
I think Oregonians are just sensitive to it, because they're secretly thinking, "The road that, if it were not there, would keep out the Californians.
I find the use of the word school equally puzzling like before I met Margo if someone had said to me I went to school in Washington I would understand that as I went to (12-16) “secondary” school in Washington.
Oops - Lisa is right about the terminology.
I don't know why it's a big deal other than to me it's just sloppy English. Or American. Maybe it just sounds like a lame attempt to be hip.
I'm not a fan of that 'the 5' business either. It reminds me of Sesame Street, like 'today's program is brought to you by the number 5'.
And Americans seem to use the word 'school' to denote any educational facility, and don't feel the need to clarify further. We take it for granted that if someone says 'Where did you go to school?' we will know they are asking what college/university we went to, unless the specific conversation implies high school... in which case I'm pretty sure someone would just ask where you went to high school...
The other thing I tend to do is name my Safeways. I currently have a choice of three, depending on which direction I'm coming from. There is, "Big Safeway", "Ghetto Safeway", and "Close Safeway."
With so many choices I couldn't say "the."
I've been a big Safeway namer as well. We actually had a bit of trouble as we two 'Ted Bundy Safeways' - one where he worked and the other that he shopped at. Got a bit confusing...
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