OT: English terms

Jonathan Leffler wrote:
> mAsterdam wrote:
> > VC wrote:
> > > It's, like, introduction to modelling 101.
> >
> > What is 101?
>
> In the USA, the first course in a given subject seems to be 'Subject
> 101'; subsequent courses in the same subject get larger numbers (102,
> 201, dunno what the sequence normally is, and it likely varies between
> institutions anyway). I'm not clear whether this applies in regular
> schools (K-12 - meaning kindergarten to grade 12, or ages 5-18) or
> whether it really only applies to university courses.

It only applies to college/university.

As an aside, also in the USA, we call it "college" even if it's a university. We only preserve the "college/university" distinction in the names of the institutions. You could say "he went to college at Harvard" just as well as you could say "he went to college at Snakewater Community College." I understand the distinction is important in other dialects of English, but it's not made in the USA. Anti-classism, maybe? (Just a wild speculation; no flames please.) I've never heard anyone say "where did you go to university?" who was a native of the USA.

> (And, just to add
> to the confusion, when they ask you where you went to school, Americans
> most often mean where did you go to university. Isn't it fun sharing a
> common language!)

Just so!

I also note that 101 is an important freeway in California; it runs from San Francisco to San Jose (and on to less interesting places like Los Angeles, ha ha) which means it's the primary artery for Silicon Valley. 101 is a section of my commute, and has been for most of my adult life.

Marshall Received on Sat Aug 13 2005 - 17:11:28 CEST