Why do people say this? You don't go to university, you go to a university -- ie, an academic center of higher learning. There is not ONE university, therefore you can't go to "university", however you can go to A university, since there are multiple ones and you must distinguish between them.

To everyone outside of the United States, please stop saying that you are attending university. You aren't. You are attending a university. You go to college.

huh?

When I hear "university" I think Cambridge.

When I hear "college" I think some podunk Community College handing out two-year diplomas for Dental Hygiene Assistants through the mail.

I go to university. If you wish to shout from the rooftops here that you go to "college", and start a pissing contest with me that boils down to arguing with an Englishman over the correct term for soccer, then so be it. But you are a faggot of the highest degree.

Mind the pun.

Shouldn't this be in the "stupid statements" thread?

See, that's the thing though, you don't go to university. You go to a university.

PS: United States has the finest educational institutions in the world. =P

I think in the UK (and i could be wrong on this) they use university the same way we use college. For example, I could say, "I got to college" or "I go to a college" .. they use it the same way, "I go to university" "I go to a university" - the people in the US that picked it up that way probably picked it up as a trend. I have a few friends in the UK, I will ask them when I talk to them.

er "I go to college"

Here in Canada, "I go to college" means you are going to a community college that gives out trade diplomas and shit. "I go to university" means you're going to a university that gives out degrees, B.Sc. and M.Sc. and Ph.D. and all that good stuff.

The two terms exist because there's a difference between them. We're not just saying it to sound cool.

I know what it means, but you can't go to university. It's not a proper phrase, and it's usage makes you sound stupid.

Kind of negates the point of going to "university" in the first place. Ironic. =)

Out of curiosity, who says it isn't a proper phrase, but that "I go to college" is ok?

I think skycrasher doesn't quite understand the term "dialect"

It's a grammatically correct phrase. It is, however, considered somewhat "archaic" and hasn't been in common use in the United States for quite a while. It's still used in the UK and Canada (and Australia as well, I believe)

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World of Warcraft: Kallaystra, Gweila, Steakumn, Tarathia [ Feathermoon/Horde ]

Also, how is "I'm going to college" different than "I'm going to university" -- it's the same statement using two different words that mean the same thing.

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World of Warcraft: Kallaystra, Gweila, Steakumn, Tarathia [ Feathermoon/Horde ]

This is one of the more retarded threads in a while. It's a perfectly acceptable phrase. Open your mind a little.

I don't give care if you think it's retarded.

The phrase itself is retarded, and it makes whoever uses it sound stupid. I don't think that just because it's used widely in Canadian / European vernacular it's suddenly a proper phrase. We use "ain't" all the time and that's not a proper contraction. Shrug.

LAME

Once again...

"Hail, dialects!"

Except in this case "go/going to university" is actually grammatically correct.

lrn2english.

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World of Warcraft: Kallaystra, Gweila, Steakumn, Tarathia [ Feathermoon/Horde ]

Dialects have nothing to do with it. I admit that it's acceptable in certain vernacular, however, that doesn't make it grammatically correct.

Ultimately, it's absolutely not grammatically correct. It's an improper phrase.

Feel free to try and prove that it's grammatically correct. =) Again, if your reasoning is that it's widely used and accepted in certain dialects then that would make every slang term and other things of that nature "grammatically correct" as well.

You're the one trying to make a point, so you should prove that it's incorrect. And "It sounds stupid" and "People who say it annoy me" don't count as viable proofs.

I was going to say "I don't give a fuck" and then decided to make it less inflammatory, I forgot to edit out the "give" -- sorry Jeka!

Any chance you could respond to my post? I didn't flame you; I asked a few simple questions that you haven't answered.

1) Who says it isn't correct?

2) Why is "We're going to university" incorrect while "We're going to college" is ok? What is the difference, in your mind?

And to further my argument:

Here's a website that advertises to teach English grammar-- http://www.english-the-easy-way.com/Fut ... ing_To.htm

Notice they use exactly the sentence we are speaking of, and claim it's correct.

If you do a search of "going to university" (with the quotes) you'll find many instances of the phrase used. The thing is, the phrase appears all over the place not just in pages that would use slang, but in many "official" websites that would prefer to use correct grammar, such as news sites.

Finally, in the US "going to university" AND "going to a university" just aren't used much, making this conversation with Amercians not very relevant anyway. In the US, "College" and "University" are generally interchangeable nouns, and don't contain the same connotations you described earlier. For example, if someone asked me, "Where did you go to college?" I wouldn't correct them by saying, "not college! I went to Ball State University!" It wouldn't even occur to me. It's my impression that most Americans use the word "College" to indicate any 4 year degree giving institution, whether it is a "University" or not, and "Community College" for a 2 year degree giving institution.

Both seem grammatically incorrect to me, with one being more popular here in the states than the other(it being some part of a different dialect doesn't make it correct either).

The implication is that you are "regularly attending" "a specific" college or some other thing that you would regularly attend. People do not say "I GO TO STORE" or "I GO TO LIBRARY ON WEEKENDS" because it is unspecific. Attending colleges and such seems to be one of the only situations where we allow it, even though it does not follow gramatically. I just think it has to have a definite or indefinite article preceding it since it is not a proper noun.

It's not just college / university:

"going to school" is used virtually everywhere in the US, every day. Is that wrong too?

How about, "going to hospice care."

"going to church."

"going to market" <----- definitely done both ways, don't get me wrong.

Are they all wrong, Venen?

The fucked up thing about the English language...

just because it *looks* or *sounds* grammatically incorrect doesn't mean that it's not.

Unlike many other languages that have exceedingly strict grammatical rules, English does not follow that form.

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World of Warcraft: Kallaystra, Gweila, Steakumn, Tarathia [ Feathermoon/Horde ]

To add a few more: Going to camp, going to town, going to sea, going to seed, going to waste, etc etc etc...

If that construction is "grammatically incorrect", it sure as fuck gets used a lot.

I would say yes. Those are good examples btw, but they are more indicative of culture than anything else. Almost all of those things are commonplace, regular activities that would be susceptible to differing culturally-influenced dialects.



Which is why I added the specific rule, which has nothing to do with "sounding right": There needs to be a definite or indefinite article before the noun. Not doing it simply does not follow the rules. I agree that English is one of the languages that does not always follow strict rules, but that does not mean rules are nonexistent =)

Well, I can agree with that at least =)

Because, you know, if something is frequently used it can't be incorrect. People would never stand for that...

ok then here's my question. Why insist that THIS rule be followed, but not others? At what point is it no longer a rule? Why doesn't the word "phone" bother you?

It will be very difficult for you to convince me that "I'm going to college." should be in the same category as "I ain't going."

Although you may not agree, this is a truestatement...frequency and assimilation have a TON to do with the evolution of words and language. The more something is said in a certain fashion with a certain meaning, regardless (or irregardless!) of the initial 'incorrectness', it can change with frequency or commonality of use. The 'rules' can and do change because of frequency, its how the rules were derived in the first place.

College and university are two different things in the UK. I believe my UK friend said college is somewhat like highschool. Anyways, I need to run down and get something out of the boot of my car and bring up the lift to my flat, cheerio.

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"We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home."

Wow, this thread is a true artifact of our little forum here; poster 1 gets all in a huff and posters subsequent meaningfully and logically resolve the problem. Sweet!

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Knowledge without reason is useless.

http://boxrockssocks.blogspot.com/

In Canada there is more than a nominal difference between "degree" and "diploma", there's a very tangible and legal one.

An institution has to be accredited by its home province in order to hand out a "degree", meaning a university degree of 3 years or more, denoted by BA or BSc, etc. These are (always as far as I know) public institutions funded by its province's ministry of education.

Separately, there are colleges, which can be either public or private, which hand out diplomas*. These are very different from a "degree". They are usually for trades, or in Quebec, for some professions like Nursing or Radiology. But they are never equivalent to a university degree, nor are they recognized as such outside of Quebec.

We say "I am going to university" because it means you're going to a completely different kind of school from a "college".

*There is one exception, these being "university colleges", which hand out undergraduate degrees, but do not have any graduate programs.

Well, I'm not insisting it be followed, I'm just saying it breaks the rules. However, to respond to your second question here, I'll first quote Belzek:



I agree that we make our own language, in essence. We can still call on our own inconsistencies though. Why do I follow one rule in this situation, but not the other? Then it would be appropriate to declare why you do it and in what circumstances you do it.

We still have "slang", though, and we have *permanently left* many words and phrases as slang instead of declaring it to be legitimately following the rules. Why not in this case, as it does not follow those rules?

It just seems much easier to say something like "ain't" is slang rather than trying to justify it with a brand new set of rules that might end up being contradictory to other rules in the first place.

What Belzek said was exactly my point. Furthermore, since "I am going to church" and other similiar statements are so completely accepted in the US, my point continues to say that it meets the criteria for Belzek's statement.

Therefore, it does not break any rules, since per Belek's point (which you and I apparently agree with!), it's no longer against any rule.

What the fuck is this thread?

I believe "the fuck" is also poor grammar in this instance. What does it even mean, anyway?

I agree with the idea that we make up language rules as we go along, but I don't think it's very frequent. More often we label more and more words and phrases as slang.

Considering that there is no hard and fast rule out there(that I have seen, anyway) that excuses us from inserting the definite and indefinite articles, we can only go with the rules as they currently are. While we occasionally make up rules as we go along, if we went by your logic then every "slang" term would be free from any consideration of being grammatically incorrect, which is clearly not the case.

Show me a grammatical text anywhere that labels "I went to college" as "slang," and I'll concede. Like I said earlier, it's going to be very difficult to convince me to put that sentence and "ain't" in the same category.

Said someone from the country who elected Bush for 2 terms...

Bush will be out of office soon, but the Canadians will still be... Canadians. I think we still come out ahead.

For the record, I like Canadians! Plus, I never voted for Bush.

What you "think" of us is irrelevant, all that matters is you're putting Canadian gas into your car every time you head to the pump.

We have your money, and your economy by the balls. That's all we care about.

I'm going to Dolalinversity. Number one state school in the country? Sign me up. I know some people think that maybe Dolalinversity isn't the greatest, that it doesn't have enough prestige. Well, to those people, I say F YOU SUCKERS! HAHAHAHAHA.

Majoring in biochemics, I've got a strong future ahead of me. Actually that's a pun because I plan on specializing in the chemistry of the brain in particular, and, as you might know, the brain is located *inside* of the head. So really, there is no limit to my growth potential. What my true goal is, is to find a way to control the chemical receptors in your brain so that I can mind control people. With a little work, I canc ertainly find a chemical that is mind-controlling and then enter it into your water supply without you even knowing, since it will be odorless, colorless, and tasteless.

Then, one ordinary day, you will wake up and suddenly I will be in the driver's seat of your psyche. Everything you think, do, or know will be determined by my whims. You want to pee? Well, what if I make it so that your body sends the pee signal to your armpits and you startingf peeing all over your fav. shirt? Poop squeezing out of your toenails and squishing in between your toes like warm, summer mud? Count on it! That is the full breadth of my technology.

It's funny you actually believe that.

So did you finally give up on the original topic and realize you were wrong?

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Kuwen Furyblades
Hunter of Memento Reejeryn
Champion of Faydark

Nope. In fact, I'm so confident in the fact that I'm right, I don't even need to address it any longer. It's not a proper phrase, and no one has proven otherwise. (And can't, because it's not!)

(Just like you, and your <3 of diamonds!)

The general consensus is that it is a proper phrase, you started the thread, the burden of proof is yours; failing to do so just makes you look very foolish.

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Kuwen Furyblades
Hunter of Memento Reejeryn
Champion of Faydark

I'm already convinced of it.

I don't have to (nor care to) convince anyone else.

I just said it was stupid and it irked me when people used it because it's not a proper phrase, especially not in the United States (where it's overwhelmingly not used -- hence general concensus backing my stance.)

Regardless of what people say on an internet forum, the fact that it's not used in a country that without a doubt has the worlds finest educational institutions, kind of bolsters my position.

This is considered trolling in case you weren't aware. Fribur asked a good many questions unrelated to the prevalence of the phrase in the US, that you conveniently ignored.

My advice is that you create your own personal message board where you can post all your Jack Handey's and not have to concern yourself with following reasonable message board etiquette.

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Kuwen Furyblades
Hunter of Memento Reejeryn
Champion of Faydark

Here fishy, fishy.

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"We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home."

That's not trolling. I don't have to offer reasoning for every opinion I have. If I did that, I'd have no time left in the day to do anything else. Trolling is inciting people w/ strawmen / ad hominem attacks, etc. Not offering an opinion without giving explicit reasoning. I don't like it because I don't. That's it. Doesn't make my opinion invalid.

Anyhow... to satisfy you... saying:

"I attend university." -- "You what? You mean you go to school right? Which school?"

Whenever I'm asked if I go to school, I say "Yes, I go to Arizona State University. (ASU)" not just "Yes, I go to University." because the latter doesn't sound right.

You simply can't "go to university" because there is no single university. Nor does "university" imply there is a plurality involved. I guess what makes it improper is that it's not implied what "university" is. With church and school and college, it implies what it is -- a place of learning, worship, etc. Saying "I go to university." just leads to "Huh?"

University = a school

Really? I had no idea... I guess I was wrong the entire time.

Borat Voice: "NOT!!!"

The majority of people on this board have the opinion that you're a dumbass, does that make it so? Oh, never mind.

I see it listed in every online dictionary as a common noun. I see only one usage sentence, and it's in the form that irks you.

Dunno what to say man, you seem like a very upset monkey, pointing villainously at people for using a word in a way you don't like. All the while, missing the basic point of language, communication. You know exactly what they mean, regardless of what is proper. Yet you choose to think "huh?"

I guess that's just what intelligent, witty, personable guys do!

Tough shit. My RL success indicates that I'm not a "dumbass."

Oh well.