29 comments by 7 or more people

1. Mathew Mannion

   Oh so, so wrong. Tis 'Varsity' as far as I know.

   08 Aug 2006, 14:20

2. I have to put in my 2p worth here and say that 'The Varsity' is perfectly acceptable!

   08 Aug 2006, 14:29

3. Tracy Playle

   Even if it is just "Varsity" it sounds odd to say "I'm going to Varsity". So, I think it's definitely acceptible to call it "The Varsity" on the basis that it sounds better!!!

   I also just did a search on yell.com and it is listed as "The Varsity" (see link)

   08 Aug 2006, 14:35

4. Tracy Playle

   link

   08 Aug 2006, 14:36

5. David Botterill

   Without question it is 'The Varsity' – there can be no other reference!! DB.

   08 Aug 2006, 14:36

6. Eleanor Lovell

   I like to see it is all the regulars who are agreeing with me! ; )

   08 Aug 2006, 14:44

7. Jo

   I really think it is a staff / student thing.

   Staff say 'The Varsity'

   Students say 'Varsity'

   I'm a student and I say 'Varsity'

   08 Aug 2006, 14:45

8. It is Varsity. No doubt!

   08 Aug 2006, 14:59

9. Mathew Mannion

   Saying "The Varsity" would sound ridiculous to me, although I've crossed the student/staff divide now… And it still sounds stupid to me, sorry.

   08 Aug 2006, 17:10

10. Eleanor Lovell

    Jo – your theory would seem to be working…

    Matt – we will count you as a student since you were a student before you were staff

    We need some more comments to test the theory properly though… And anyway – why would staff say 'the Varsity' and students just say 'Varsity'?! Where's the logic behind that?!

    08 Aug 2006, 17:17

11. Lisa

    If you're from round here its undoubtedly THE Varsity, seeing as these Midlands folk like to put THE in front of everything :P

    08 Aug 2006, 17:49

12. me

    The one in the city centre definitely has 'The' on the sign. Would they be different?

    08 Aug 2006, 19:59

13. Vivek

    Just to confuse matters further, I seem to recall that when it first opened it was under the name "The New Varsity

    09 Aug 2006, 08:36

14. The Varsity - and Lisa's right about the Coventry the thing… The Jag, the Dunlop etc.

    09 Aug 2006, 09:31

15. Maybe it's because it's a chain of pubs: 'Varsity' is the name of the chain/company/whatever, but decribing it you could call it 'the Varsity' to differentiate it from all the other varsities, just in case anyone thought you were planing a trip to York on Thursday night.

    09 Aug 2006, 10:16

16. Lee Davis

    In my experience pub names are always prepended with THE , even if it isn't part of the name. Though the rest of the name may be abbreviated.
    Might be an age thing as I can't do text speak either and always have to type things properly.

    09 Aug 2006, 10:52

17. Nick

    Surely you should say "are you going to the Varsity" because you wouldn't say "are you going to Red Lion" you would say "the Red Lion

    09 Aug 2006, 11:50

18. Yes, but on the flip side you wouldn't say "Are you going to the Weatherspoons", you'd say "Are you going to Weatherspoons?" Wouldn't you? Likewise, it'd be the same for somewhere like Millsys in Earlsdon – or does that not count because it's a wine bar and not a pub :–)? I guess it's just down to the individual name itself. But I'll remind again that Yell.com does list it as "The Varsity" – and how can anyone question the validity of the Yellow Pages?!! It's a British insititution and the source of all knowledge and wisdom!

    09 Aug 2006, 16:44

19. Eleanor Lovell

    Tracy – I am on your side with the use of the word the - but just to ruin my own argument slightly... it is the Barracuda Group who own the chain and on their website it is referred to as Varsity.

    But I don't care what the official title is – I just want to know what people actually say, and at the moment it looks like the Varsity is winning out! Jo, I am winning this argument! Good ol' blogs!

    And you say "Who can question the vailidity if the Yellow Pages?" But really…Who can question the validity of the great DB! THE Varsity it is!

    09 Aug 2006, 16:53

20. I'm with Ellie on this one, once David B has spoken I'm mystified that there can still be any question as to the correct terminology!

    09 Aug 2006, 18:51

21. Lee Davis

    Yes Tracey, just after I posted I thought of the example where it is a possessive noun, but couldn't think of any examples (since Millsy's doesn't count as it is a wine bar) I would generally refer to a Wetherspoon's pub by it's name to avoid confusion as to which one.

    09 Aug 2006, 18:57

22. It's definitely Varsity.

    10 Aug 2006, 00:54

23. Hywel Rowles

    Sorry, agreeing with the wisdom of DB here (as everyone should!) It's certainly The Varsity!

    10 Aug 2006, 11:38

24. Lisa Cooper

    The Varsity sounds silly! You don't say 'shall we go to The Sugar' or 'have you been to The Mirage/Evolve?' Nor do you say The Tesco, The Asda, The Boots, ITS VARISTY DAMMIT! :P

    11 Aug 2006, 14:17

25. Ben King

    Due to the fact that I have studied 'The Varsity' in some depth over the years, I can give you the definitive answer…

    14 Aug 2006, 18:32

26. Ben King

    … and with the link :) The Varsity

    14 Aug 2006, 18:33

27. Ben King

    I really should RTFM about no HTML tags… GRRR… The Varsity

    14 Aug 2006, 18:35

28. Ben King

    Jeez this is hard work… The Varsity

    14 Aug 2006, 18:38

29. barsteward

    damn varsity.. is it 2 quid now for one of them 25% cards..

    22 Aug 2006, 11:20

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