<p>
</p>
<p>Is that a rhetorical question? There is but one answer.</p>
<p>It tastes just like chicken.</p>
<p>:D</p>
<p>Dear Violadad; Gott in Himmel; your Freude ist Schade! The semicolons; they are just for you; also for your chickens. Not.</p>
<p>And that reminds me of another German story, since we are talking language usage here. The German word for faucet is Hahn. The German word for rooster is also Hahn. Our landlord, who spoke not-quite-fluent English, came over one day to tell me “the chicken is broken.” I just stared at him. He had a tendency to start yelling when I didn’t understand him, as if I were deaf rather than bewildered. So after yelling at me a couple times, “The chicken is broken!” he took me outside to the spigot and said - “Here! It is kaput. The chicken is kaput.”</p>
<p>I’m really glad he used chicken rather than another synonym for rooster. </p>
<p>I’m sorry for being off topic. It’s violadad’s fault.</p>
<p>I must apologize for threading the wrong pathway. </p>
<p>binx, I guess you can say your landlord left you to stew in your own juice.</p>
<p>And I do depreciate the semicolons.</p>
<p>Guten tag.</p>
<p>Roshe & binx - Why do the Brits say someone is “at university” or “in hospital,” and Americans say “at college” or “in the hospital” ?</p>
<p>I don’t know why we use “the” with hospital, but not with college. And why we use college instead of university. </p>
<p>Another regional thing with using/not using “The” is Prom. Around here I always heard, “Going to the prom.” But much of the rest of the country says, “Going to prom,” and I guess that’s spreading. Sounds weird to me.</p>
<p>I hunted through my old emails, but I can’t find the answer from the guy who wrote me back at the time. Here is one discussion of it that I found on the Internet.</p>
<p>[Going</a> to Hospital](<a href=“http://www.deimel.org/language/hospital.htm]Going”>Going to Hospital)</p>
<p>These annoy me:</p>
<p>1) the word “amazing” - EVERYTHING is “amazing” these days (good or bad!)
2) the phrase “back in the day” - sorry Rachel Ray…it’s like fingernails on a chalkboard to me!</p>
<p>I also find it odd that my kids say, “I am going to prom.” They don’t say “the prom” and they get very annoyed with me when I say “the prom!” </p>
<p>Also, my first graders ask me if they can “take a drink” not “get a drink.” Where did that come from?</p>
<p>Thanks for the article binx - the explanation makes some sense of the inconsistencies. When something is more of a universal experience than a specific destination ( go to school, go to church, go to college) the article is sometimes (but not always!) dropped.</p>
<p>I agree about “going to the prom.” What’s next “promming?!” There’s also “prude” as in “He’s prude” rather than “He’s a prude” or “He’s prudish.” </p>
<p>I’ve posted this one before - “Democrat Party.” Democrat is a noun, so it’s proper to say “Democratic Party.” I noticed fewer broadcast journalists by far making this mistake this year as compared to four years ago. At that time it seemed that many were virtually campaigning for the (incorrect) usage! </p>
<p>84Bruin - I’m with you on the others, but have always said “take a drink” and “get a drink” of water interchangeably (northeast/Midatlantic). That’s not a recent thing - maybe regional? I also quite interchangeably will stand “on line” or "in line! "</p>
<p>HeliMomNYC: is your husband British or has he travelled a lot. Because they use “toilet” in place of bathroom there and it took a lot of getting used to. Made for very confusing conversations occasionally.</p>
<p>I’ve stored these up:</p>
<p>“I’ll let you go” to end a phone conversaton. Maybe you need to go, but I don’t.</p>
<p>The news broadcasts here use the expression “right now” to begin almost every sentence. As in; Right now, there’s a fire on main street. One station started it and now they all do it.</p>
<p>The expression “he disrespected me”. Seriously? I don’t know if that’s correct usage but it really annoys me. </p>
<p>And the one that annoys me most, is when my SIL says "excuse my…and anything she’s doing that annoys me. Like slurping, or smacking her gum, or burping. Obviusly she knows she’s doing it, knows it annoys people and does it anyway. But that might have to do more with what I think about her than her word usage :)</p>
<p>Heard a Sarah Palin interview last night in which she said she wants to “progress”
Alaska/energy or something like that. I found her use of the word “progress” as a verb irritating.</p>
<p>And you’re right, violadad: I should just assume that something “tasty” tastes like chicken!</p>
<p>“grow” used to mean “enlarge”. “Grow the economy” “Grow the program” etc.
These things *can *grow, but until about a decade ago, you didn’t grow them.</p>
<p>It really grates on my ears.</p>
<p><<i don’t=“” know=“” why=“” we=“” use=“” “the”=“” with=“” hospital,=“” but=“” not=“” college.=“” and=“” college=“” instead=“” of=“” university.=“”>></i></p><i don’t=“” know=“” why=“” we=“” use=“” “the”=“” with=“” hospital,=“” but=“” not=“” college.=“” and=“” college=“” instead=“” of=“” university.=“”>
<p>In Britain colleges are traditionally part of the great universities (Madgalen College is part of Oxford University, for example), but in the US many independent colleges were established early on (Williams, Dartmouth, Amherst, et al). So in Britain one goes to “university” for higher education–although at least in the case of Oxford and Cambridge, one is actually admitted to a college, not to the university itself–while in the US one might go to either college OR university. And since the <em>undergraduate</em> part of the university is traditionally “college” …wait a minute…is this making any sense? </p>
<p>Nevermind!</p>
<p>I have to confess that I have taken to using “I’ll let you go” when I need to end a phone conversation that seems as if it is going to continue beyond the time I have to give to it. It seems more polite to suggest that the other person must be too busy to continue rather than baldly stating that <em>I</em> am the one who has to do something else.</p>
</i>
<p>I’ve heard <em>let you go</em> used 2 ways. 1. By the caller, as it was he that in one sense has called for the attention of the recipient; and 2) by the recipient who in a polite way is trying to signal the caller- this conversation needs to end( much like consul said post 171.</p>
<p>i HATE when people say “i’m sorry, but…” you aren’t sorry! you are pretentious!</p>
<p>Adding this one to the list. <em>Definitely</em> overripe! :</p>
<p>[Hendrik</a> Hertzberg: Online Only: The New Yorker](<a href=“http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/hendrikhertzberg/2007/10/language-health.html]Hendrik”>Language Health Advisory No. 3 | The New Yorker)</p>
<p>Okay, it really bothers me when people talk about a couple and say that they are pregnant. Sorry, but I carried the babies, I was pregnant, not my husband. The couple are expecting a baby but both are not pregnant. Sorry, I’ll quit ranting now.</p>
<p>“Spot On” …</p>
<p>“On point”</p>
<p>Onward–somehow, I’m okay with “we’re expecting a baby.” It is a little pushing it to say, “we’re pregnant.” Although, in some way, it’s cute–as if the guy is so supportive that he actually feels he’s part of that process. But, not. :-)</p>
<p>“Okay, it really bothers me when people talk about a couple and say that they are pregnant. Sorry, but I carried the babies, I was pregnant, not my husband.”</p>
<p>I think it’s sweet when a couple says they are expecting but, I agree, only one person is pregnant.</p>
<p>I also think it’s appropriate to say a couple is expecting… they are both expecting/awaiting the birth of their child. It did take two to tango… however, only the woman is pregnant.</p>
<p>I really hate, “I was just saying…” As in, I’ve said something that clearly annoys you, and I don’t want to apologize or admit that I said something inappropriate, so I throw out, “Well, I was just saying.” Yes, you said it! And you shouldn’t have! So admit it!</p>