The British Are Coming! The British Are Coming!
February 5, 2010
Writing my last post about how language is a mare’s nest of grammatical and social rules reminded me of one of my pet peeves: people in the news business using the phrase “to hospital”: “Three men were injured and rushed to hospital.”
“To hospital” is a British idiom, and I have no problem with British folk saying “to hospital.” But the American idiom is “to the hospital,” and when Americans say “to hospital,” it is such egregious truckling to our erstwhile colonial masters, it really gets my dander up.
I first heard the phrase used by an American newscaster several years ago on NPR, the last place one would expect such shameless bootlicking. Now I’m hearing it on all the outlets, cable and broadcast.
The only possible explanation for this British linguistic invasion is the putative social prestige that some Americans associate with British accents and locutions.
Stop this mindless pretentiousness. Remember Lexington and Concord!
–Dennis
