Re: hospital or the hospital

Einde O'Callaghan wrote:

> Bill Bonde ( the oblique allusion in lieu of the frontal attack ) wrote:
> >
> > Chris Kern wrote:
> >
> >>On Thu, 23 Oct 2003 16:15:44 -0700, "Bill Bonde ( the oblique allusion
> >>in lieu of the frontal attack )"  <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> posted the
> >>following:
> >>
> >>
> >>>Someone else wrote:
> >>>
> >>>>She's at university in Manchester...
> >>>>They got married in church...
> >>>>
> >>>
> >>>Church is also fine but you say 'the university' in AmE.
> >>
> >>Although the more normal equivalent of "at university" is "in college"
> >>-- "at the university" refers to a specific university rather than
> >>just the general "state" of being a college/university student.
> >>
> >
> > What about the "at hospital" of BrE compared to "at the hospital" in
> > AmE? Don't Brits mean at a specific hospital?
> >
> Which "at hospital" of BrE - whereas it definitely is "in hospital" and
> often "to hospital" I can't recall ever having heard "at hospital", only
> "at the hospital".
>
> Regards, Einde O'Callaghan

Idiomatic use of prepositions, or even absence of them is 
fascinating.

As usual there's not enough context given, but this 'at hospital'
saying may be from some example of regional dialect.

Only one hospital in the area so why bother with either the definite
or indefinite article?