'going to the synagogue'I think this is definitely not a red herring – it’s the original article.
You have hit on an interesting one here, Lucy, and I agree it’s an insider-type issue. I think there is a complex unspoken thought process betrayed by this simple form of words: “
We go to
(our place of worship) in order to partake of that community – but we could equally go to another
(place of worship) as we are members of a whole network of such places; that
other strange group of misguided souls go to the local
(place of worship) , being the only example of this aberrant institution that has impinged on our consciousness.”
Max, an example I can offer is more of a general rural dividing style from when I lived in Kent. If I said I was going
to town, it would carry a different meaning to going to the town: the latter meant the local town, the former meant going up to London.
PS - drafted before I had read your comment, jo!But most distinctions of Maidstone usage were far cruder. A car-driver stopped me on the pavement with the request for directions to “Mason iced pill”. Had I not been local I might have been confused; as it was, I correctly deciphered this as a synonym for Kent General Opthalmic Hospital (aka Maidstone Eye Hospital)
