‘With baby…’ instead of ‘with the baby … zero article usage yes or no?

[StormGazing]

Does this annoy anyone else?

It absolutely annoys me, yes. As if "Baby" is the baby's name.

Drives me nuts. Horrible hangover from the days when posh people had Staff (nannies, nursery maids) who were expected to call the baby Baby rather than by name because that was Their Place (although that’s probably forgotten now). And nowadays it’s just nauseating.

See also: healthcare staff calling everyone over 72 “poppet” or saying “ah bless” or referring to We instead of you (“have we opened our bowels today dear?” “No idea about you but I had a very satisfying shit earlier, thank you”).

The zero article usage which always annoys me is ‘conference’, particularly in relation to party or union conferences. People seem to refer to ‘going to Conference’ as if there’s only one, rather than ‘the xxxx conference’ etc, or if the context makes it clear which one they mean then at least ‘the conference.

Oh goodness so people really do this! 🤯

It's twofold. There's the annoying example you've given which a friend of my mum's used to say all the time when her daughter or daughters in law were pregnant before they knew the sex and)or name. I never understood it.

Then there's the myriad lazy social media posts, examples:

Loving weather, sitting on patio, going in pool
Going gym
Let cat out

It seems to be common in the NHS, especially with nurses. As well as “Baby” they often use “Mum” instead of the mum (or you/your name). I’ve been tempted to say I’m not your mother before!

See also “Doctor”, as opposed to the doctor or Dr Smith. I suppose they deal with a lot of people and it saves remembering everyone’s name, but to my ear it sounds false and rather condescending.

I’m reminded of one of the Carry On films, where a bossy nurse was exhorting Frankie Howerd to change into a hospital gown.

”We don’t want to lie in our nice clean bed with our nasty old pants on, do we?”

His reply was along the lines of “madam, what you do in your bed is entirely your affair!”

😂😂

I'd never come across this till I met my first boyfriend. I think it is more prevalent is some regions . There are many things that annoy me but this is not one of them .

Ooh yes I hate 'bless ' as a response. Patronising. I'm 56 so find it hard to stomach from.someone 30 years my junior!!!

It’s not a new thing. ‘Baby’ and ‘mum’ were used like that when I was pregnant over twenty five years ago.

I was recalled after a mammogram. It was December. I had a scan and something else and then I had to lie under a blanket with my top half naked, waiting for a person to come to give me a physical prod about. The nurse bent over me and cooed, "Are we ready for Christmas?" I think I did start, "Well, I can't speak for you.... (Patronising bugger)

I have a profound hatred of this usage. Makes me see red. I think I hate it more than any other incorrect usage, actually. So patronising and infantilising. It sounds as if mothers can only cope with baby-talk. I've looked up this issue before, and apparently it's used when the writer doesn't know the baby's name, so they use "baby" as a proper noun. IN THAT CASE, WHY ISN'T IT SODDING UPPER-CASED!!!!!

Better yet, just say "the baby" like fucking normal people. Unless we're going to impose it as a rule and be consistent:

I took dog to the vet yesterday. The vet said dog needs quiet while he recovers from his surgery. It's important to make dog feel stable and calm. He slept in car all the way back.

Or

I took Dog to the vet yesterday. The vet said Dog needs quiet while he recovers from his surgery. It's important to make Dog feel stable and calm. He slept in car all the way back.

Either example reveals how fucking moronic it is to leave out the definite article before a common noun.

People miss out the definite article all the time. I hate it. It looks thick.

If someone said 'with baby' i'd think they meant pregnant, in the same way that 'with child' does

I have no idea why babies don't get a 'the'.
It's baby this and baby that.

The Notting Hill Carnival doesn't have a 'the' either. It's carnival.

I remember Nick Ferrari on LBC winding up a carnival organiser with his insistence on using a 'the'.

We really annoys me unless they actually mean the two of us.
There is a thread lurking on here at the minute
What do we think of this dress '

I think the dress is ok but your grammar is terrible

There isn't an article in Latin, iirc, and i don't think Russian or some Eastern European countries have some of them, like we do. That isn't an excuse. It's a statement.

Somewhere along the way I learned that Handel's Messiah is not 'The' Messiah.

Bit of a de-rail, I know, but not far.

Well of course; ‘Messiah’ is the name of the oratorio, written by Handel on the script.