# Dropping "the" in Front of Chef or Coach **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 4, 2022, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-the-in-front-of-chef-or-coach/963954 "2022-05-04T17:47:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2022, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-the-in-front-of-chef-or-coach/963954/41 "2022-05-10T04:09:39Z")
It’s common when you’re talking to them, as in “Yes, boss” but I can’t remember ever hearing anyone say something like “What did boss say?” or “Go speak with boss” unless English was not their first language. That construction sounds completely alien to me. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2022, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-the-in-front-of-chef-or-coach/963954/42 "2022-05-10T09:56:14Z")
Me too. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2022, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-the-in-front-of-chef-or-coach/963954/43 "2022-05-10T14:13:51Z")
> [@Sternvogel](#): > > […]Christians do not describe their savior as “the Jesus”. Maybe the quote was “the Christ.” Jesus was actually his name. Christ was a title. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2022, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-the-in-front-of-chef-or-coach/963954/44 "2022-05-10T14:36:38Z")
It seems there are two distinct categories at play here. 1. **2nd person, addressing them directly.** This is the more common construction. 2. **3rd person, talking about them.** This is much less common. I doubt there any hard and fast rules, but some broad commonalities I’m seeing in the less common case. The person in question is an authority figure. The authority figure is unique enough to avoid confusion. The title has morphed into a context-dependent nickname. I think the implication is that we have an authority figure who is respected enough to go by a title, but familiar enough that a nickname becomes appropriate. So you might not expect to hear “Go talk to Doctor about the chart.” But in a smaller practice, it wouldn’t be wild to hear “Go talk to Doc about the chart.” Likewise, “go talk to Sergeant about the jeep” sounds strange but “go talk to Sarge about the jeep” doesn’t. The titles have become nicknames, but they’re still heavily dependent on context. Outside that practice or that unit, ‘Doc’ or ‘Sarge’ lose meaning. But some of these titles-as-nicknames don’t seem as reliant on context. Coach is a great example. Back in my team sports days, if a coach from another school had shown up as a guest for a single practice, I probably would’ve called defaulted to “coach” unless several of them were standing near each other and I needed to call out to one specifically. tl;dr - language is weird and finicky and neat ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2022, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-the-in-front-of-chef-or-coach/963954/45 "2022-05-10T15:51:14Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > Maybe the quote was “the Christ.” Jesus was actually his name. Christ was a title. No, I specifically remember the phrase “the Jesus”. Just because someone has a medical degree does not mean he is a theological scholar as well. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2022, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-the-in-front-of-chef-or-coach/963954/46 "2022-05-10T16:06:12Z")
I think this sums it all up very well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-the-in-front-of-chef-or-coach/963954.md?page=2)