# Hey Brits - Where's the The? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 17, 2001, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-brits-wheres-the-the/76714 "2001-08-17T12:46:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dqa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dqa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dqa)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-brits-wheres-the-the/76714/21 "2001-08-17T23:52:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dr. Schadenfreude \* > \*\*If I wish to refer to the future in general terms I might say something like ‘In the future, all hospital operations will be carried out by robots’. > > If I am talking about my future or your future I might say ‘In future I’ll be more careful’ or ‘Watch it in future’. \*\* Does the same apply to “past” vs. “the past”? I find it odd to omit the “the”, except when using past or future as an adjective. “In future cases, remember to fill the pool before diving in.” "In past weeks, hail has laid waste to the used car lot. OTOH, at present I have no such scruples with “the present”. ---
**Author:** ![Mersavets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aca169/32.png) [@Mersavets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mersavets)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2001, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-brits-wheres-the-the/76714/22 "2001-08-18T02:24:32Z")
I can use future with or without the article but past must have the article. I notice the same thing with front and back. Australians, English and Irish say in front or in _the_ front but we will always use the article when we say back. I’ve noticed _some_ Americans just say “in back” though.a ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2001, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-brits-wheres-the-the/76714/23 "2001-08-18T03:16:48Z")
Well, here’s another one. Growing up, we always talked about going to **the prom**. But even as this happened where I live (Georgia), I was watching movies that said, “What about prom?” And since then, I have felt like my high school was the only one that went to **the prom** , whereas everyone else just went to **prom**. Anyone with a degree in English Lit. can perhaps understand my dilemma. Especially one (such as myself) who goes on how things _sound_ when writing. Having something that sounds right be _wrong_ is bothersome, in ways that most people probably cannot imagine. So someone make a rule! Gah! ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2001, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-brits-wheres-the-the/76714/24 "2001-08-18T05:53:13Z")
[slight hijack] What about the American tendency to add prepositions? “Get off **of** the stage” instead of “Get off the stage”. Is this a regional thing? [/slight hijack] ---
**Author:** ![rivulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rivulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rivulus)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2001, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-brits-wheres-the-the/76714/25 "2001-08-18T06:49:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by David Cronan \* > Another difference :- In the UK we would say "I shall write to him " in the USA " I shall write him " Shall? I doubt many Americans would use the word “shall”. Except maybe when trying to sound old-fashioned or [_cough_] English. 😃 As an American (albeit raised in Canada), I would say “I will write to him” or “I’ll write to him”. But I have heard some people in some regions of North America say "I’ll write him. As for “Get off (of) the stage,” I have used both. Unfortunately, I don’t remember which usage came from which region. Personally, I find “Get off the stage” to be more direct. To soften the directive I might say, “Get off of the stage.” But that’s just me. YMMV rivulus ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2001, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-brits-wheres-the-the/76714/26 "2001-08-18T15:17:50Z")
And then there’s the British and their pesky maths. ---
**Author:** ![nerv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/85e7bf/32.png) [@nerv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nerv)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2001, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-brits-wheres-the-the/76714/27 "2001-08-18T15:39:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Biggirl \* > \*\*I also read a lot of “in future.” Around these parts we say “in the future.” This isn’t a distinction of function, is it? > > \*\* “In future” means “from this time on”. “In the future” means “starting some time after now”. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2001, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-brits-wheres-the-the/76714/28 "2001-08-18T16:41:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by missbunny \* > \*\*And then there’s the British and their pesky maths. \*\* Nothing wrong with that. Maths is short for mathematics. I don’t think there is such a word as “mathematic” , not as a noun anyway. ---
**Author:** ![chutwig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e56c9b/32.png) [@chutwig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chutwig)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2001, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-brits-wheres-the-the/76714/29 "2001-08-18T21:06:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rivulus \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by David Cronan \* > > Another difference :- In the UK we would say "I shall write to him " in the USA " I shall write him " > > Shall? I doubt many Americans would use the word “shall”. Except maybe when trying to sound old-fashioned or [_cough_] English. 😃 > > As an American (albeit raised in Canada), I would say “I will write to him” or “I’ll write to him”. But I have heard some people in some regions of North America say "I’ll write him. > > As for “Get off (of) the stage,” I have used both. Unfortunately, I don’t remember which usage came from which region. Personally, I find “Get off the stage” to be more direct. To soften the directive I might say, “Get off of the stage.” But that’s just me. YMMV > > rivulus \*\* The “I will write him” thing is just ellipsis. The speaker assumes you know that he/she is going to write a letter to this guy, so that part just gets dropped. For reference, I live in New Jersey, and say “I’ll write to him” if I’m not qualifying it with a direct object. ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2001, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-brits-wheres-the-the/76714/30 "2001-08-18T21:18:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rivulus \* > \*\*As an American (albeit raised in Canada), I would say “I will write to him” or “I’ll write to him”. But I have heard some people in some regions of North America say "I’ll write him. \*\* Actually the most common usage of this in America would be “Write? What the hell for? I’ve got a phone!” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Studoggie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b487fb/32.png) [@Studoggie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Studoggie)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2001, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-brits-wheres-the-the/76714/31 "2001-08-19T01:31:01Z")
So would would a Brit say “Our country is in the crap-hole.” “Our country is in crap-hole.” Personally, when I think of Britian. I would say “The country is a crap-hole.” Note: This is joke. But I am probably in dog-house now. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![occ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8c91f0/32.png) [@occ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/occ)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2001, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-brits-wheres-the-the/76714/32 "2001-08-19T03:48:37Z")
With things like “church” and “school”, we in the US, as said, say “to church” and “to school”. However, in these cases, “church” and “school” are as much specific entities in and of themselves, rather than standing in to refer to a specific chuch or school. You aren’t so much saying “I’m going to the school building” as you are saying “I’m going to attend the activity known as school”. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Ryan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7feea3/32.png) [@The\_Ryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Ryan)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2001, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-brits-wheres-the-the/76714/33 "2001-08-19T04:33:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ZipperJJ \* > > > [@](#): > > > > Americans often seem to say “a couple boxes of nails”, whereas Brits usually say “a couple of boxes of nails” > > As an American, that seems like bad grammar and/or laziness on our part. If I were copy editing that sentence, I would surely add the “of.” I think it’s more an issue of how two "of"s in the sentence sound cloying. If I just referring to two boxes, I would say “a couple of boxes” but I would probably say “a couple boxes of nails” if I wanted boxes with nails in them. David Cronan quote: > [@](#): > > Nothing wrong with that. Maths is short for mathematics. I don’t think there is such a word as “mathematic” , not as a noun anyway. But the whole idea of an abbreviation is that you use the first few letters. “s” isn’t one of the first few letters, is it? Do you say “10 kms” since it’s short for 10 kilometers? ---
**Author:** ![Rock-n-Rolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/22d042/32.png) [@Rock-n-Rolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rock-n-Rolga)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2001, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-brits-wheres-the-the/76714/34 "2001-08-19T05:08:36Z")
I notice that in general, the British will say, “There’s the drummer **out of** the Rolling Stones,” while Americans say, “There’s the drummer **in** the Rolling Stones.” The first time I saw the British way in a music magazine, I briefly thought they were saying the person was no longer in the band. ---
**Author:** ![Rock-n-Rolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/22d042/32.png) [@Rock-n-Rolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rock-n-Rolga)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2001, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-brits-wheres-the-the/76714/35 "2001-08-19T05:19:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Ryan \* > \*\* > David Cronan quote: > > > [@](#): > > > > Nothing wrong with that. Maths is short for mathematics. I don’t think there is such a word as “mathematic” , not as a noun anyway. > > But the whole idea of an abbreviation is that you use the first few letters. “s” isn’t one of the first few letters, is it? Do you say “10 kms” since it’s short for 10 kilometers? \*\* Sometimes an abbreviation uses the first, middle and last letters, such as “Twp” for “Township.” But I think what the British are getting at with the Maths thing is that there are several kinds of math, not just one. Hence the plural form of the abbrevation. At least, this is what I was told by a two English friends a couple of years ago when we had a brief debate on the “Maths vs. Math” subject. After brief consideration, I had to concede the argument. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2001, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-brits-wheres-the-the/76714/36 "2001-08-19T14:21:04Z")
OTOH the British refer to “sport” rather than “sports”, which kind of blows the multiple-varieties theory out of the water. ---
**Author:** ![Royal\_Sampler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/82dd89/32.png) [@Royal\_Sampler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Royal_Sampler)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2001, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-brits-wheres-the-the/76714/37 "2001-08-19T14:40:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Ryan \* > \*\*But the whole idea of an abbreviation is that you use the first few letters. “s” isn’t one of the first few letters, is it? Do you say “10 kms” since it’s short for 10 kilometers? \*\* No, we say “10 k’s”, and not “10 k”. And I must totally disagree with your logic of “the whole idea of abbreviations is that you use the first few letters.” Almost every abbreviation of a plural word will include the “s” on the end. Do you say “My engine **revs** x amount of times per minute” or do you say “my engine **rev** x amount of…”. I am assuming you use the first one. So that is why we say “maths”, because it is short for “mathematics”, and why we say “revs” because it’s short for “revolutions”. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2001, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-brits-wheres-the-the/76714/38 "2001-08-19T17:27:24Z")
Interesting point from Royal Sampler there. However I believe the standard UK abbreviation for kilometres is ‘km’ not ‘kms’. This from the Collins English Dictionary. We don’t tend to abbreviate ‘miles’ so there is no unit comparison to be made. Paradoxically I would say ‘I’m entering the Olympic 10,000 metres’, using the plural, but I could also express that as ‘I’m entering the Olympic 10k event’ using the singular. ---
**Author:** ![xanakis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/7bcc69/32.png) [@xanakis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xanakis)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2001, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-brits-wheres-the-the/76714/39 "2001-08-19T23:06:24Z")
Also American say “I could care less” whereas the British say “I couldnt care less”. I think the British version is more correct here grammatically. The idea is to express the fact that you REALLY dont care about the object/person/whatever. If you REALLY dont care then saying “I could care less” implies that you have more care than necessary - it is possible to care even less. Saying “I couldnt care less” shows that you dont care at all - it would not be possible to have less care than you do. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2001, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-brits-wheres-the-the/76714/40 "2001-08-19T23:28:21Z")
Hello **xanakis**. ‘I could care less’ probably has the ‘I’ stressed in conversation whereas ‘I couldn’t care less’ normally has the ‘less’ emphasised. In this way the former becomes ironic while the latter is merely factual. This is a hypothesis since I have never heard the first expression, even on a US TV show. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-brits-wheres-the-the/76714.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-brits-wheres-the-the/76714.md?page=3)