JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

In the US we say you "go to the hospital". In England it's just "go to hospital".

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

We say "going to school" and "going to work";
but not "going to Doctor" or "going to mall".

Our language is coded to make it harder to understand?

Stephan G

AmerIndians?

[Side note: Many of the Indians (Asia) do seem to speak native English (UK) the best. Blimey!]


Americans, as a rule, are the worst English (UK) speakers. They went and tossed in a lot of strange words into the dictionary.

ejones0310 Loc: Tulsa, OK

My English friend doesn’t use “the”.

She says, “I’m going to University.” Instead of “I’m going to The University.”

She also says hospital instead of the hospital. I’ve noticed most Brits on TV and in the movies do the same thing.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

chrissybabe Loc: New Zealand

Native English speakers, other than the US, use metres or centimetres. (or meters or centimeters if you are using a US dictionary). I grew up on foot/feet but try and change. All the youngsters wouldn't know what you are talking about. TV programs will use any old measurement depending on where they were born or who the program was aimed at. In 20-40 years time foot/feet will be obsolete with the last bastion being the US.

John N Loc: HP14 3QF Stokenchurch, UK

Except in England. The ground IS the ground - and becomes floor when it it is dressed for accomodation.
Never having seen a Seven foot tall person I'm not sure what I'd use, both seem O.K. Probably say at least 2m!

P-J Loc: UK

Hi I'm in the UK & not sure what TV programmes (spelt the English way) you refer to, but we do refer outside as ground. Floor only applies indoors. Though a lot of our TV programmes are now written & hosted by Gen. Z 30 + year olds & they're as dumb as Millennials. They are changing the English language to Americanisms due to computers & the domination of Microsoft & Apple which naturally write everything in American & American TV programmes & films.
In the UK we use the Oxford English Dictionary. American spelling is based on the Cambridge English dictionary where it substitutes 'z's' for 's's'. Due probably to the Pilgrim fathers mainly originating in Englands East Anglia where Cambridge university is? Also noticed now the of Americans now calling countries beginning with with A or I pronouncing it as I ran, I raq et al. So why don't you call it I taly? Maybe the Italian Americans might have something to say about that? And the abbreviation for mathematics is 'maths' not 'math' which is now the common way which Americans say & spell it. We are now two nations divided by a different language, not a common one!

Stephan G

Vale cives! ("Wall-ay Key-wez") Languages mutate continuously with common usage being the moving force. If the language does not change, like "Franca Lingua", it becomes useless.

Dictionaries are not the best source for language use. They, too, compete to be timely to be useful. "Ain't" being an interesting American English entry as an example.

Regarding "Eye"-talians, Italians around the world had responded to its use back after WWII. This includes those with Italian heritage.

The American English dictionary has "in-haled" a tremendous amount of words from diverse sources. Idioms factor greatly. Also Technology has given a large number of terms. Again, it is usage that drives the meanings. I remember when "bad" became a contronym. (Thanks to Michael Jackson.)

Which English Dictionary do the Cockneys use? And do they still drop the leading aitches?

Bridges Loc: Memphis, Charleston SC, now Nazareth PA

I read/listen to a lot of English novels. One thing they say as opposed to American speech is that someone is going to hospital or vacation rather than "the" hospital or "a" vacation. I find they are quite correct in that "the" indicates a specific place. It would be appropriate to say "I'm going to (the) hospital at Kings Crossing for a checkup", but just to say "I'm going to the hospital" would be incorrect.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Maybe an implied <in town> or <nearest>?

I missed where it says which one is right.

P-J Loc: UK

Cockneys invented their own language commonly know as 'Cockney Rhyming Slang, so the police apparently at the time couldn't understand when they were planning their crimes in the local pubs?
& yes they still 'drop' their aitches as do a lot of British people do these days.
Today one of the most annoying (to me) is when people pronounce the 'g' at the end of a word as a 'k' e.g. 'somethink', or 'nothink', instead of something or nothing! Now widespread in England. We even have TV news readers on the BBC, saying 'gonna' instead of going to! Shows how far the UK has 'dumbed' down thanks to 'inclusion', 'political correctness', & 'diversity' to name but a few, now forced of our suppressed British society.
Yes, a language has to evolve, but we are going backwards, not forwards. People are just getting lazy or stupider probably both?

Re 'eye -talians, maybe the Iraqis & Iranians have also railed against it's American pronunciation, maybe it's just that you don't speak Arabic & realise it?
Long may we be divided by our own languages? After all that's what makes us who we are. I'm sure in a hundred years time or so British & Americans along with Australians & New Zealanders will require translators when we converse with each other? I see some TV programmes shot in Canada, (The Curse of Oak Island for example) already have English subtitles when broadcast in America even though the person is speaking in English, albeit of course with a Canadian accent.

P-J Loc: UK

We usually say 'going on holiday' not many here say vacation!

P-J Loc: UK

Do you mean 'programme' not 'program'. That is how the Americans spell it, not English!

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Which ???
Many Americans don't speak succinctly also.
Think if you were from a third country and read that.