In the hospital vs in hospital

這篇文章以in hospital和in the hospital作例子提到英美對待articles的分別:

Even between British and American usage one finds subtle differences in nuance or emphasis. For example, Americans usually say someone is in the hospital, much as they could be at the bank or in the park. To the British this sounds like there is only one hospital in town or that the American is thinking of one hospital in particular that he or she patronizes. The Brits say an ailing person is in hospital, just as they would say a child is at school or a criminal is in prison. This is because they are thinking more of the primary activities that take place within those institutions rather than the buildings in which they are housed. If, however, you are merely visiting one of these places, you are at the hospital, at the school or at the prison — both British and Americans agree here that what we have in mind is the building itself.

http://www.davidappleyard.com/english/articles.htm


關於這一點，forum有討論過：

Is there a reason the British omit the article when they “go to hospital”?

Why do British speakers omit the article in constructions like "go to hospital" or "go on holiday"? Pretty much all American speakers would rephrase those as "go to the hospital" and "go on a holiday", I think. Is there any good reason, or forgotten sense behind those words that might explain why the articles are ommitted? Are there other common constructions other than those two that the British use that drop the article?

EDIT: I just realized per Kosmonaut's comment that Americans do much the same thing with a few nouns, so this isn't all that special. Do grammaticists designate nouns that can have their article dropped with anything, i.e. do they have anything in common?


兩篇文章都說英國人特別會將go to hospital和go to the hospital分開，到底是否美國佬不會呢？

有條友這樣答：
 
We Americans say "go to school", "go to work", "go to college", and "go on vacation". Brits just do one or two more. –  Kosmonaut Apr 5 '11 at 18:44

另一條美國佬：

As an AmE speaker, I do the same thing for school/church, just not for 'hospital'. –  jbelacqua Apr 5 '11 at 20:45

所以，原來美國人跟英國人大部分時候也用go to work, go to school, go to church, go to college等，只係醫院比較特別，美國人說go to the hospital.

以下這答案最好，講清楚了用法背後的原因：
When we omit the article before the noun, we are thinking of a state or condition, not of a specific place: in jail, in love, in hospital, at university, under fire,