# She's got "the" cancer ... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 2, 2004, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shes-got-the-cancer/258032 "2004-08-02T21:49:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shes-got-the-cancer/258032/41 "2004-08-04T11:42:58Z")
> [@Cat Jones](#): > > Mind you they’re tricky little beasties these articles. Take your hospital example, for a Brit there is a difference in meaning if you use an article or not … > > They’ve taken her to **X** hospital = she needs treatment > He’s gone to **the** hospital = to visit someone / to work etc. > > It works the same way with places like school, university & church. > > She goes to \*\* X\*\* church every Sunday = to pray / take part in the service > She goes to **the** church every Sunday = to arrange the flowers / polish the silver / chat to the vicar > > Is there anything like this in American ? Interesting, as an American I would always “the” in both hospital examples, yet I would use “the” in the church example exactly as Cat Jones does. Funny that university is mentioned. We tend to use college/university interchangeably. But I would say I go to college (meaning I spend 10 months of my year persuing a degree at an unnamed institute of higher learning, which may indeed be a university or a college) but… I go to the college (to have a beer in their pub; it’s cheaper there). However… I go to the university would be context dependent; say I live in Syracuse NY which has a reknowned university, then saying this implies I go to that university to persue a degree. However I could also use this form in the beer/pub example. I would never ever say “I go to university”. ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shes-got-the-cancer/258032/42 "2004-08-04T15:18:23Z")
> [@SNenc](#): > > Actually, Cecil’s > As for “the cancer”, I and other people my age (early to mid-20s) often use an unnecessary “the” in sort of an ironic way. I know I started using it around when I heard that Tiny Tim once recorded a song called, “Santa Claus Has The AIDS This Year.” My buddies and I also say “the sex” frequently, but I’m not sure when we started that or where we picked it up from. I just know it makes things funny. I was at a jazz club in DC earlier this spring and the bandleader got the whole crowd laughing when he thanked his family for coming. He said “They came all the way from the Florida to hear their boy play the jazz music!” And it was the “the” that made the remark so funny. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shes-got-the-cancer/258032/43 "2004-08-04T15:45:15Z")
> [@SNenc](#): > > My buddies and I also say “the sex” frequently, but I’m not sure when we started that or where we picked it up from. I just know it makes things funny. Probably from _Mystery Science Theater 3000_, episode “The Starfighters” (I think) : CHARACTER: “I’ve got to get home to the wife.” TOM SERVO: “Boy, the wife is sure going to be glad to see the me! We’re going to have the sex.” ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shes-got-the-cancer/258032/44 "2004-08-05T02:54:24Z")
Apparently it’s also possible to [get ‘the gay’](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=241684). ---
**Author:** ![alimarx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@alimarx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alimarx)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shes-got-the-cancer/258032/45 "2004-08-05T16:20:25Z")
IIRC, Kirk would refer to “the Enterprise”. Archer, however, simply calls his ship “Enterprise”. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shes-got-the-cancer/258032/46 "2004-08-14T09:59:18Z")
> [@pestie](#): > > This is making its way into popular culture. I believe there was an episode of _Friends_ where reference was made to “the sex,” as in, “We’re going to have the sex.” I believe that was “The One Where Everybody Finds Out,” where Phoebe was hitting on Chandler as a joke because she knew he was in a secret relationship with Monica, and he was hitting on her because Monica didn’t want “her team” to be the one to cave in first. One of the things Chandler said to Phoebe, as best I can recall without cracking open the DVDs and verifying the exact phrasing, was “I’m very happy we’re going to be having all the sex.” It was hysterical – made me get the laughter right quick, it did. ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shes-got-the-cancer/258032/47 "2004-08-14T16:57:29Z")
> [@Cat Jones](#): > > They’ve taken her to **X** hospital = she needs treatment > He’s gone to **the** hospital = to visit someone / to work etc. > > It works the same way with places like school, university & church. > > She goes to \*\* X\*\* church every Sunday = to pray / take part in the service > She goes to **the** church every Sunday = to arrange the flowers / polish the silver / chat to the vicar > > Is there anything like this in American ? To continue the hijack, I agree with **BwanaBob**. In my version of American English: I go to the hospital = I am traveling to that destination for purposes unspecified. I go to hospital = not used I go to college = I attend that facility for educational purposes I go to the college = I am traveling to that institution Further clarification about hospital visits is with the prepositions _at_ and _in_: she is in the hospital = almost always means that she has an ailment requiring treatment she is in hospital = not used she is at the hospital = that is her present location, but she is not a patient [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shes-got-the-cancer/258032.md?page=2)