a stint in <the> pen

[VicNicSor]

The waitress notices a client eating greedily.
WAITRESS: Just get out, did ya?
CUSTOMER: Hmm?
WAITRESS: Oh, nothing, just that my brother did a stint in the pen and he used to eat like that.
CUSTOMER: I come from a big family.
The Butterfly Effect, movie

Does the definite article article with "pen" mean she implies some particular prison, or is it a generic use?
Thanks.

 

[london calling]

Yes, she means 'the penitentiary'.

 

[VicNicSor]

Yes, she means 'the penitentiary'.

Yes, but I asked why it is "the"? I.e., what does "the" mean here?

 

[london calling]

We say 'in prison/jail/gaol', but we say 'in a/the penitentiary'. I imagine that is because we see a penitentiary as a particular kind of prison.

 

[heypresto]

'The pen', with the article, is the same as 'prison' without an article. I don't think ' . . . a stint in pen . . . ' is idiomatic.

 

[VicNicSor]

But would "a stint in a pen" be idiomatic in the OP?

And does by "the pen" she mean one particular penitentiary?

 

[london calling]

It's idiomatic in the OP, yes. And as we said, we say 'in prison' but 'in a/the penitentiary'. She doesn't mean one particular penitentiary: how could she? She doesn't know which penitentiary he was in.

 

[RedwoodGrove]

No to both.

It is the same as "in the hospital" in AE, or "at the police station".

 

[VicNicSor]

She doesn't mean one particular penitentiary: how could she? She doesn't know which penitentiary he was in.

I meant, like, the local one, the nearest one. Could that be?...

No to both.

It is the same as "in the hospital" in AE, or "at the police station".

I.e., you disagree with LC, that "a" could be used with the same meaning in the OP?...

 

[RedwoodGrove]

I.e., you disagree with LC, that "a" could be used with the same meaning in the OP?...

Uhhh ... probably I do disagree. I think if you said "I've been in a hospital" it would be OK but not idiomatic in the same way. It would seem to be leading on to more of an explanation or story or something. "I've been in the hospital" might excite curiosity but it is a statement sufficient unto itself.

Also, the former could be said, theoretically, for any reason (work, visiting, etc.) while the latter is only for confinement due to illness, surgery, etc. It occurs to me, though, that once you break out of the set expression you might vary the noun article: "Laid up in bed in a hospital in Denver."

 

[VicNicSor]

Thank you everyone

 

[RedwoodGrove]

Of course, the hospital examples are intended to hold true for "penitentiary" as well.