Anglo-American communications studies

[Bryan Green]

on 1/8/01 2:54 PM, Jim Dixon at jdd at vbc.net wrote:

> 
> [Apologies for continuing this odd thread but ...]
> 
> On Mon, 8 Jan 2001, Tim May wrote:
> 
>>> Anyway - I heard Americans on the TV last week talking about "railway"
>>> instead of "railroad". And "station" instead of "depot" (though Grand
>>> Central Station is I suppose quite old, so you must have had that one
>>> for a while)
>> 
>> The most interesting Britishism to suddenly invade our shores and
>> spread rapidly is "gone missing." I'm now hearing this in American
>> movies, t.v. shows, and, importantly, television news. "The hunt is
>> on for the fugitives in Texas who have gone missing." This is
>> definitely new to our shores; I'm surprised (and pleased) at how
>> rapidly it has spread.
>> 
>> "At university" and "at hospital" have not become common (though "at
> 
> The more common British term is "in hospital".  I don't recall
> ever hearing anyone say "at hospital".
> 
> There are innumerable small distinctions in usage .  If you are
> in hospital, you are ill, not a member of the staff.
> 
> Your being ill may the result of an injury.  That is, the same
> term covers both sicknesses and injuries.  If you are in hospital
> because of a broken back, people will say that you are ill.
> 
> If you are sick, on the other hand, it means that you have vomited.
> 
>> college" and "at school" are fully equivalent and are common).
> 
> They aren't equivalent at all.  In the UK [young] children go to
> "school" and "college" generally refers to something very roughly
> equivalent to either an American senior high school or junior
> college.  My company has university students spending a year or
> so with us on placement; if you ask them when they are going back
> to school, they tend to be offended, thinking you are poking fun at
> them.  Taking the mickey, that is.
> 
> --
> Jim Dixon                  VBCnet GB Ltd           http://www.vbc.net
> tel +44 117 929 1316                             fax +44 117 927 2015
> 
> 
> 
Actually, gone missing has been in common usage in my home area for the past
20 years at least.  My home area being southwestern Arkansas.  This may be
the reason that it has shown up on the news broadcasts for the Texas
fugitives.  Maybe it has already been in use in this small, little part of
the country for awhile.

Bryan Green