Where am I going? To see a movie or a play?

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Wonderlicious
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Where am I going? To see a movie or a play?

Post by Wonderlicious »

In America, I see you call a place for seeing a movie a "theatre" (abroad, it's a cinema). Does this cause some confusion? If you say I'm going to the theatre tonight, can people get ideas you're going to a different place then where you are going? Won't this cause mix ups at dates?
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pinkrenata
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Post by pinkrenata »

More commonly, "theater" is used to describe a cinema, while "theatre" means theatre.

Of course, I may have made up that rule. I really can't be too sure.
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Disneykid
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Post by Disneykid »

Well, in common speech, an American person would say, "Let's go to the movies," in reference to cinema and "Let's go to the theater," in reference to the stage. I say common speech because the place we go see movies is called a movie theater, but people (including myself) usually refer to it as "the movies". I'm not sure if that applies to most Americans, but it does here in South Florida.
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Post by Wonderlicious »

Can't you just call a "movie theatre" a "cinema". It would cause less confusion across the rest of the world :roll:
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Post by Disneykid »

Wonderlicious wrote:Can't you just call a "movie theatre" a "cinema". It would cause less confusion across the rest of the world :roll:
In the technical world, we do also call them cinemas, but again, it all comes down to common speech. No one I know refers to it as the cinema. I only see the term used by movie theater companies ("United Artists Cinemas") or in print like we're doing now.
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snowbot
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Post by snowbot »

I live in Northern Florida, and sometimes I do say "Let's go to the cinema" but usually I get an eye roll. It sounds too posh for these southern folk.
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Post by BrandonH »

For the other side of the coin, I'll usually just say, "I'm going to see a play" instead of "I'm going to the theatre."
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Just Myself
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Post by Just Myself »

Usually, it's let's go the movies or let's go see a play. But that's just me.
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Post by StevEnrique »

I don't believe the majority of Americans go to see plays on a regular basis so there is rarely any confusion. :lol:
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Post by castleinthesky »

Wonderlicious wrote:Can't you just call a "movie theatre" a "cinema". It would cause less confusion across the rest of the world :roll:
It does get confusing, but in America some of us get confused with English accents and word usage. :lol:
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