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Does the construct "Go + to + noun phrase" always express going somewhere, a specific physical location?

For example:

  • Go to school
  • Go to the movies
  • Go to the nearest store
  • They went to Paris
  • We will go to my aunt's
  • G̶o̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶b̶a̶c̶k̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶l̶i̶n̶e̶

Not taking into account expressions like go to hell and noun phrases that can't be looked up in a map.

ielyamani
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  • @EdwinAshworth There are an interesting discussion there about the meaning of adding the. This question is rather closer to this one. – ielyamani Mar 10 '17 at 12:09
  • But Neil Coffey answers this question in the thread linked to above. – Edwin Ashworth Mar 10 '17 at 12:34
  • @EdwinAshworth adding the derminant the or not, either way, an actual place is implied. An app that parses natural language could look up actual places in sentences having this construct. – ielyamani Mar 10 '17 at 12:43
  • Should 'Go to the back of the line' be included as a relevant case or not? You seem to include it, it's directional/deictic, but you can't find it on a map. Your question is unclear. // 'Go to work' has various senses, one of which is merely 'start work' (cf 'Go to it!'). As stated in Neil's answer, 'go to school' obviously has an association with one (or more) geographical locations, but is usually used for 'attend [a] school', where the location is backgrounded and almost out of sight. – Edwin Ashworth Mar 10 '17 at 15:19
  • I hear "Go to your happy place" to mean relax, so that's an abstract destination. – Yosef Baskin Mar 10 '17 at 16:54
  • @EdwinAshworth you're right about go to the back of the line, it should be used as a counterexample. I totally agree and understand Neil's answer to that question, but that's not what I'm asking. And like you said, even when omitting the determinant, the association with one (or more) geographical locations still lingers in the back thought. One could assume in an app the school/hospital/restaurant implied by analysing the nearest/most frequented places by the user or recommending new ones. – ielyamani Mar 10 '17 at 17:53
  • @YosefBaskin yes that would be a counterexample – ielyamani Mar 10 '17 at 17:54
  • Go to a meeting, go to the meeting, go to church, go to the doctor, go to a better place, go to get my hair done, go to my appointment, go to the phone, go to the door, go to the bathroom. Locational, not necessarily geographic. – Xanne Mar 11 '17 at 06:41
  • @Xanne most of the couterexamples you've provided are valid, get my hair done isn't a noun phrase – ielyamani Mar 11 '17 at 08:18
  • @Carpsen90 I understand about "get my hair done." But add: go to confession, go to therapy. It seems to me "go to the back of the line" is more locational--a "somewhere" identifiable in the context of the event. But the answer to your basic question seems to be "No." That doesn't mean you can't write a "go to" app; It just means it won't cover every use of "go to" + noun phrase. – Xanne Mar 11 '17 at 10:57
  • @Xanne I agree, it's not a definitive way of expressing the act of going somewhere. – ielyamani Mar 11 '17 at 12:34
  • You can "go to work" even if you work from home. It just expresses the metaphoric change from personal activity to business activity. – Barmar Mar 11 '17 at 18:48

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