Chat - May 2022

[Obviousman]

This one came up and I wanted to hear the opinion of others: Is the correct term:

"Expert in their field"

or

"Expert in the field"

I favour the former although I can see times when the latter would be... appropriate.

[Bryanpoprobson]

I always thought that you use the phrase Expert in the field of……..
And this person is an expert in their field.

Ie two distinct uses.

[gillianren]

Yeah, with "the field," you have to specify what field.  Now, if you're already discussing, say, historical costuming or 3D printing or whatever, and you reference a person, at that point it becomes perfectly acceptable to just say "an expert in the field," because at that point it's understood that they're an expert in the field under discussion.