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Comment by no_ja

2 days ago

Discussions of healthcare facilities always get me in Canada. Grew up in the states, but born in Canada, when you have to use the emergency room it’s said that “they went to Hospital” as opposed to “they went to ‘the’ hospital”. No one up here ever seems to see the oddity of always referring to multiple different hospitals as the singular Hospital.

13 comments

no_ja

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jt2190  2 days ago

“They went to hospital” is a Britishism and definitely not something you’ll hear all the time in Canada.

umanwizard  2 days ago

In America you do something similar with school. I went to school (not “the school”).

  • jdougan  2 days ago

    Also varies by region in the US for referring to highways. In Southern California it is usually "the I-5" while on the other coast you will hear a plain "I-95".

    • 7402  2 days ago

      In Northern California it's also just "5" "880" etc. We can pick out Southern Californians by their use of the pronoun.

      If you want to show your geographical sophistication within California, you can safely refer to "80" (I-80 passes through only the northern part of the state) and "the 10" (which passes only through the southern part). As for "5" vs. "the 5" just make sure that if you're heading south you've switched by the time you reach the Grapevine (q.v.).

      I'm not sure where the N/S dividing line is, though. Any HN readers from Bakersfield or Coalinga?

    • anon7725  2 days ago

      I think Americans have the most variety of names for roads - kind of like the Inuit have many ways to talk about snow.

      Parkway, Freeway, Highway, Tollway, Expressway, Interstate, Byway, etc

    • fsckboy  2 days ago

      >In Southern California it is usually "the I-5"

      in LA it's most definitely "the 5" and state highways are also named with their numbers with no distinguishing. it's all "the N"

fracus  2 days ago

I've never heard a fellow Canadian say "to hospital" over "to the hospital", in person, or on TV.