Alexander Koryagin:

Johnson and Bell had a good supper awaiting them. But
before they sat down to table, the doctor said in a
voice of triumph, as he pointed to his two
companions,-- ----- The end of the citation -----

Can you say a formal excuse why "table" in the last sentence
is used without any article?

This usage needs no excuse, being perfectly correct. Here a
combination of a preposition and a noun in the objective case
acts as a unified proposition, cf. /on top of/, /in place of/,
&c. Observe also the title of a Dunany short story, /Thirteen
at table/, where /at table/ is singe united proposition.

---
* Origin: news://news.fidonet.fi (2:221/1.0)

Mortar M.:

However, you could also say, "sat down to the table". This
way, you don't sound like a caveman.

But cavemen had no tables, being uncivilised. /to table/
occurs a lot in civilised English usage, e.g.:

https://duckduckgo.com/?origin=funnel_home_website&t=h_&q=%22to+table%22+site%3Agutenberg.org&ia=web

By /civilised/ I mean, of course, the use of English at a time
when only select few had a chance to preserve their writings,
unlike our modern barbaric age, when publishing one's text is no
longer a hard-earned privilege, so that any teenager generates
publicly readable noise at deafening levels.

---
* Origin: news://news.fidonet.fi (2:221/1.0)

I wrote:

This usage needs no excuse, being perfectly correct. Here a
combination of a preposition and a noun in the objective
case acts as a unified proposition, cf. /on top of/, /in
place of/, &c. Observe also the title of a Dunany short
story, /Thirteen at table/, where /at table/ is singe united
prpposition.

^^^^^^^^^^^ -- preposition

Consider also: /jump ship/, /close shop/, /find fault (with)/,
/change color (of the face)/, &c. These are verbs merged with
following nouns in the objective case. The absence of an
article reflects this merging.

---
* Origin: news://news.fidonet.fi (2:221/1.0)

Hi, Anton Shepelev!
I read your message from 18.10.2025 19:54

Johnson and Bell had a good supper awaiting them. But
before they sat down to table, the doctor said in a
voice of triumph, as he pointed to his two
companions,-- ----- The end of the citation -----

Can you say a formal excuse why "table" in the last sentence
is used without any article?

This usage needs no excuse, being perfectly correct. Here a
combination of a preposition and a noun in the objective case
acts as a unified proposition, cf. /on top of/, /in place of/,
??&c. Observe also the title of a Dunany short story,
/Thirteen at table/, where /at table/ is singe united
proposition.

Did you read somewhere about "unified prepositions" (URL please) or it is your idea?
Maybe it will be interesting for you what native speakers tell about the subj in other places.

https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/at-table-at-the-table.3982769/

Bye, Anton!
Alexander Koryagin
english_tutor 2025

---
* Origin: news://news.fidonet.fi (2:221/1.0)

Hi Anton Shepelev,

18.10.2025 21:11:22, Anton wrote:

By civilised I mean, of course, the use of English at a time
when only select few had a chance to preserve their writings,
unlike our modern barbaric age, when publishing one's text is no
longer a hard-earned privilege, so that any teenager generates
publicly readable noise at deafening levels.

[...tips his top hat and gracefully readjusts monocle...] :-)


--
"The study of non-linear physics is like the study of non-elephant
biology." -- Unknown

--- FastEcho/2 1.46.1 Revival
* Origin: nntp://rbb.fidonet.fi - Finland (2:221/360.0)

Alexander Koryagin to Anton Shepelev:

This usage needs no excuse, being perfectly correct. Here a
combination of a preposition and a noun in the objective case
acts as a unified proposition, cf. /on top of/, /in place of/,
??&c. Observe also the title of a Dunany short story,
/Thirteen at table/, where /at table/ is singe united
proposition.

Did you read somewhere about "unified prepositions" (URL
please) or it is your idea?

My idea.

Maybe it will be interesting for you what native speakers
tell about the subj in other places.

Of course, and so I read about it.

<https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/at-table-at-the-table.3982769/>

This particular reference is not very useful, as none of the
participants provided an analysis and explanation of this
construction.

---
* Origin: news://news.fidonet.fi (2:221/360.0)

I wrote:

This usage needs no excuse, being perfectly correct. Here a
combination of a preposition and a noun in the objective
case acts as a unified proposition, cf. /on top of/, /in
place of/, &c. Observe also the title of a Dunany short
story, /Thirteen at table/, where /at table/ is singe united
proposition.

All of
at work
at school
online/offline
offroad
on air
out of band signal (of exceptions)
are instances of this phenomenon.

---
* Origin: nntp://news.fidonet.fi (2:221/360.0)

Hi, Anton! Recently you wrote in a message to Mortar M.:

/to table/ occurs a lot in civilised English usage

_ _ _ O / _ _ C_U_T_ H_E_R_E_ _ _ _
O \

By /civilised/ I mean, of course, the use of English at a time
when only select few

| Hmm. I'd say "a select few" or "the select few" in this context

had a chance to preserve their writings, unlike our modern
barbaric age, when publishing one's text is no longer a hard-
earned privilege, so that any teenager generates publicly
readable noise at deafening levels.

Yes. As a former junior high school teacher I wonder how some people managed to pass grade eight English. OTOH I can't be sure they did.... :-))




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+
* Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)