# "At" or "In" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 23, 2000, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-or-in/30441 "2000-08-23T14:25:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2000, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-or-in/30441/1 "2000-08-23T14:25:06Z")
I vaguely recollect from my early school days that when stating where a meeting will be held, “at” is used if referring to a general location, like a city, and “in” is used when referring to a specific location, like “in the Federal Building.” I need confirmation of this since in my work I run across the phrase “in Charleston,” and the like, which I think is wrong. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2000, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-or-in/30441/2 "2000-08-23T14:31:31Z")
I cannot think of any situation in which I would use the construction “the meeting will be held at Charleston.” I would always say “in Charleston.” “At 3:00,” maybe, but never “at Charleston.” To my ears, that sounds like somebody who is just learning the language and has their prepositions confused. I have never heard “at” used with a place in that context. “He’s at home” is OK or “The game will be played at Turner Field,” but not the construction you gave. I know just enough about linguistics to know that this could be a regional dialect thing (for instance, the expression “wait on line” is ungrammatical in my regional dialect), but that’s my $0.02. ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2000, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-or-in/30441/3 "2000-08-23T14:33:59Z")
“In Charleston” and “in Virginia” are correct. I think either “at” or “in” is correct for buildings (“at the Science Center,” or “in the Federal Building”). “At” is correct for addresses (“at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue”). ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2000, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-or-in/30441/4 "2000-08-23T15:11:48Z")
Don’t have my style books with me for cites, but “at Charleston” is not incorrect, but it may be a little old fashioned, and maybe even (could be wrong here) a little British. Note that most Universities use that construction: University of Wisconsin at Madison, University of Illinois at Champaign Urbana, etc. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2000, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-or-in/30441/5 "2000-08-23T15:12:56Z")
> [@](#): > > I vaguely recollect from my early school days that … This phrase is almost always the introduction to some nonsensical “rule” that has no application to the English language. I don’t know why; surely teachers teach _some_ accurate information. Or maybe it’s just that people say this when the inaccuracy they were taught was challenged. I don’t have Quirk and Greenbaum handy, but I’m sure that there’s no hard-and-fast rule about the use of “at” and “in” in this context. Usually a meeting is held “in” a city and “at” an address. “In” may be used for a building, but probably less often (since it’s obvious that the meeting will usuall be held _inside_ the building _at_ a partucular location). ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2000, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-or-in/30441/6 "2000-08-23T15:19:02Z")
Thanks to all. It’s unanimous then. I’ve been under a misapprehension all these years. Especially when RealityChuck, a science fiction writer, concurs with the rest of you guys (now I have to say "y’ll since I moved south). ---
**Author:** ![fierra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58956e/32.png) [@fierra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fierra)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2000, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-or-in/30441/7 "2000-08-23T15:45:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lissener \* > \*\*Don’t have my style books with me for cites, but “at Charleston” is not incorrect, but it may be a little old fashioned, and maybe even (could be wrong here) a little British. > \*\* It’s certainly not British (she says, speaking for the whole of the British populatin & preparing to be lynched later for arrogance…) - we would use in Birmingham, in London, at the Hilton Hotel in London etc ---
**Author:** ![KeithT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@KeithT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KeithT)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2000, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-or-in/30441/8 "2000-08-23T17:39:15Z")
[nitpick] The University of Wisconsin doesn’t even use “at”; we prefer hyphenation: University of Wisconsin - Madison, University of Wisconsin - Whitewater, etc. [/nitpick] Ever look at a sports schedule? City names are refered to with “at” when they are symbolic of the team, while “in” is used in other cases: The Brewers are playing _at_ St. Louis; the U.S. Olympic team is competing _in_ Sydney. ---
**Author:** ![malden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@malden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malden)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2000, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-or-in/30441/9 "2000-08-23T18:01:26Z")
I see the “at” construction used when describing historical events: _Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin met at Yalta_ _The Union and Confederate forces clashed at Gettysburg_ _Ivan lost his leg at Stalingrad_ It seems to me that “at” can be used when the name of the place itself carries a meaning beyond its name. In other words, it is a short way of saying: _Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin met at [the] Yalta [summit] The Union and Confederate forces clashed at [the battle of] Gettysburg Ivan lost his leg at [the battle of] Stalingrad_ I think you can also use “at” in the context of giving directions and geographic descriptions: _Route 6 ends at Bishop._ _I crossed the Mississippi River at Vicksburg._ ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2000, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-or-in/30441/10 "2000-08-25T00:20:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KeithT \* > Ever look at a sports schedule? City names are refered to with “at” when they are symbolic of the team I stand corrected. _This_ construction is entirely within my dialect, as testified to by the fact that I hear Don Sutton use it at least 200 times a week. Thanks, **KeithT**.