"Doctor" and "baby" without noun markers

[dieastra]

Hi, I'm from Germany and I am wondering about something that I recently repeatedly encounter in the British TV series "Call the midwife" (which is set in London in the 1950s if that is important

Comments

[asher63]

In the particular case you're referring to, I'd say that "doctor" is being used as a title, short for the full form "Doctor [name]", and "baby" is used as a substitute for a personal name.

I have heard medical assistants and secretaries refer to their boss as simply "Doctor".

On a side note, you're probably aware that Americans say "go to the hospital" while Britons say "go to hospital".

Not all men say "the wife" and I think some people find it sexist.

[thekumquat]

This. Use of Doctor is in this way is pretty standard; baby and mum tend to be used as substitutes for a name solely by healthcare workers despite the latter really annoying many of said mums.

"the wife" is dialect - the speaker is implying they are a bit under her/the thumb for slight humorous effect. It's a similar use to "her/him indoors".
The 'the' could be taken as an endearment, a bit like der/die Name in parts of Germany. Though the phrase is associated with older, traditional men if it's used without joking intent.

[dieastra]

Yeah, I can see why it would be annoying to the mums but as someone explained further down, it is also easier and quicker to use if you don't know all the names.

It's true though that even in Germany there are differences in the areas, some say just the name of a person in a sentence, others always put a "der/die" in front. I live in Saxony in Eastern Germany where we do the latter, and when my aunt from Western Germany visited, she omitted these words and just said the name.

Glad to hear that "the wife" is mostly used jokingly, I'll approach it differently now. It's often hard to tell with written words in the internet and no facial expression.

[mamculuna]

I think Britons say "go to University" also. Americans oddly will say "go to college," but only "go to the university."

[biascut]

"The wife" is pretty rude, but it's usually used jokingly. Anyone who said "the wife" seriously would be pretty gross, but along with "her indoors", "himself", "the trouble and strife" it's usually used fairly tongue-in-cheek.

"I'll call doctor and he'll check whether baby is okay." - Doctor and baby are both being used as proper nouns here. It's pretty unusual to hear doctor used this way now, but not unusual to see baby used like this, although again it's slightly jokey - you can see lots of examples here.

[dieastra]

I stumbled first about "the wife" in an action figure forum where someone said that she should rather not find out how much money he spends on his figures. Maybe it was said in jest but if not it makes me rather sad, that he can't share what apparently is important for him. Naturally, everyone there assumed I was a boy as well ;)

I never heard any of your other examples. In LJ where it's usually more women than men, I have also seen OH so far or "hubby".

So nowadays they would add the actual name of the doctor, so you know which one they mean? (in case there is more than one).

Thank you for the baby pictures, those were quite - interesting!

[biascut]

I stumbled first about "the wife" in an action figure forum where someone said that she should rather not find out how much money he spends on his figures. Maybe it was said in jest but if not it makes me rather sad, that he can't share what apparently is important for him.

That's exactly the context where men use it - it's usually part of some kind of joke about being under the thumb, the suggestion that your partner being an authority figure. Generally I assume that people are joking, because the alternative is just too awful!

[mamculuna]

"The wife" used to be perfectly acceptable in American English (like "the little woman") but in recent decades, not used.

[lysimache]

As others have said, Doctor and Baby are being used as proper nouns in this sentence. I, a high school teacher, will use this kind of construction at times myself when referring to students' parents -- as in, "I called home and Mom says little Joey should be bringing that project in tomorrow" or "Mom and Dad attended the IEP meeting" or "Little Joey, what did Mom say about you going on the field trip?" -- because it's quicker and you don't have to remember the parents' last names (which are not always the same as the student's) or titles.

OTOH, I find "the wife" insulting.

[dieastra]

I can see how it is easier and quicker to use but if I heard you I probably would think you talk about your own Mom and Dad and be quite confused! This is really interesting.

It's true though that even in Germany there are differences in the areas, some say just the name of a person in a sentence, others always put a "der/die" in front.

I stumbled first about "the wife" in an action figure forum where someone said that she should rather not find out how much money he spends on his figures. Maybe it was said in jest but if not it makes me rather sad, that he can't share what apparently is important for him. Naturally, everyone there assumed I was a boy as well ;)

[whswhs]

This can be done with other nouns that refer to people; for example, "nurse," though I associate that more with Victorian households where Nurse took care of the children than with hospitals where Nurse takes care of sick people. The same Victorian households might refer to the cook as "Cook," though I think she might also be "Mrs. -," whether or not she had a spouse.

I believe American Catholic usage sometimes refers to nuns as "Sister" (or "S'ter") and perhaps to priests as "Father."

In secular high schools and colleges, the coach of a team at least used to be referrable to as "Coach," at least among members of the team.

I'm not sure it's a marker of anything particular; there may be some semantic nuance I'm not getting, but there's not an obvious pattern of some nouns that require "the" and some that omit it.

[muckefuck]

I believe American Catholic usage sometimes refers to nuns as "Sister" (or "S'ter") and perhaps to priests as "Father."

Pretty consistently IME. "Sister" wasn't as common since they were seldom found alone. I remember many more instances of "Father". (In cases where a parish had more than one priest assigned to it--clearly I'm talking about the old old days here--it generally designated either the pastor or the officiant according to context.)

Note that this wasn't the case for other ecclesiastical titles, such as "Deacon" or "Eucharistic Minister".

[dieastra]

Sorry, that is a very late thank you - the answers came in so fast that I had a hard time to keep up with everone. But it was a great and interesting discussion, wasn't it? I learnt so much from it. And yeah, in "Downton Abbey" the cook is called Mrs. Patmore, although she never was married. Every woman who is superior to others in the household is called Mrs.

[mamculuna]

I think that "Doctor," "Mother," and "Baby" are being used in those situations as if they were proper names. American English that I'm familiar with doesn't use words like those as stand-alone "names," but it sounds to me as though British English does.

ETA: after looking at other responses, I'm thinking that Britons no longer have this usage, either.

[dieastra]

It was a very interesting discussion, wasn't it? I didn't think I'd get so many replies. And maybe others learnt a thing or two as well.

Sorry, the replies came in so fast, I couldn't keep up with them, so I only now came back to yours. It seems definitely to be a thing of the past, although some of the later commenters said they still encounter it nowadays in certain areas as well, and by people who did not already live back then. But mostly they are dated terms.