[Grammar] Question about an article.

[andrzej91]

"This is bat country."

Is this sentence correct? Shouldn't there be an article before "bat"? If not, tell me why. (This sentence comes from a Hunter S. Thompson book.)

 

[Rover_KE]

Welcome to the forums, andrzej.:-D

The sentence is correct. It means 'This is a country to which bats are indigenous' or '...a country in which bats proliferate'.

Rover

 

[bhaisahab]

"This is bat country."

Is this sentence correct? Shouldn't there be an article before "bat"? If not, please tell me why. (This sentence comes from a Hunter S. Thompson book.)

Bhai.

 

[emsr2d2]

I'm inclined to say that it doesn't refer necessarily to a whole country, more to a part of the country. If you're driving from a town out past the suburbs and you enter an area where you know there are bats, you might say "We're in bat country now".