Why is it the Brits say "going to University" and Americans say "going to college?"?

Question

They'll also say "they took him to hospital" while Americans say " they took him to the the hospital."

Answer 1

I tend to agree with the people who have made the distinction between English and American. In the early days of our country we made a conscious effort to Americanize words, which means spelling things a little more like they sound and dropping unneccessary letters (color vs. colour, program vs. programme). Getting down to the nitty-gritty, college and university refer to two different things: university is a large institute of higher learning, and a college is a subdivision of a university where specialized learning occurs, like the College of Arts and Sciences at any given University. Maybe the Brits say university because people typically attend larger, state-run schools because of the socialized education system over there.

Edit: I will never understand bubbles and squeak or bangers and mash.

Answer 2

I have no clue. I'm american but I say Im giong to University or I'm going to Hispitol just like I say I'm going to school. I also spell correct too. Of course my family is English and I go to England often too so that mght have something to do wth it..

Why do Americans spell funny?
colour vs. color or centre vs. center

Answer 3

Well, the Irish say "to take away" while Americans say "to go".

The Brits are hopelessly stuck in 19th century anachronisms- still spelling words like colour and talking about lifts instead of elevators :)

But the fact remains that historically, English itself has borrowed quite a bit from other languages. Some words have roots in latin, others in french, greek, etc. Not to mention expressions like "deja vu", "resume", "a la carte", "pizza" etc.

People living in the UK today don't speak King James or Chaucer's version of English, either- all languages change over time.

BLOUSES! SKIRTS! IS JAMES Q STILL BLOODY RANTING?

Ciao for now!

Answer 4

Different dialects have different ways of expressing the same thing.

Captain, it's not true that the"English way is the original and proper way" English and American have each changed over the years.

Answer 5

Ah, because the US and the UK are different cultures with differences in language and expression? There really isn't any other reason, nor can either one be considered correct over the other. They're just different.

Answer 6

I have it on good authority that the American revolution started over British soldier's misuse of grammar- the tea angle was just a cover story.

Taxation without conjugation! That was their battle cry!!!

Answer 7

? ...answer those two and maybe we will figure out the "chips" thing!