bonus points for historical examples
the levantthe palatinatethe caucasus
i guess (the) ukraine is beyond this now, but perhaps we still have (the) crimea
― mookieproof, Sunday, 21 August 2011 00:19 (fourteen years ago)
the nile river valley
― one dis leads to another (ian), Sunday, 21 August 2011 00:20 (fourteen years ago)
the mississippi delta
the rockies
― one dis leads to another (ian), Sunday, 21 August 2011 00:22 (fourteen years ago)
The Lake of the Ozarks
― Trip Maker, Sunday, 21 August 2011 00:24 (fourteen years ago)
political units, then
den haag
― mookieproof, Sunday, 21 August 2011 00:24 (fourteen years ago)
the Argentine (archaic)
― boxall, Sunday, 21 August 2011 00:24 (fourteen years ago)
https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Irish_Riviera_%28disambiguation%29
lol
― mookieproof, Sunday, 21 August 2011 00:29 (fourteen years ago)
the boogie down bronx
― chief content officer (m coleman), Sunday, 21 August 2011 00:32 (fourteen years ago)
the ______ coast (ideally 'north' and referring to cleveland)
― mookieproof, Sunday, 21 August 2011 00:34 (fourteen years ago)
The OC.
― nickn, Sunday, 21 August 2011 01:41 (fourteen years ago)
the earth
― RR, Sunday, 21 August 2011 03:18 (fourteen years ago)
the 101the 405the 10the 110the 105
― a long time ago i used to be snush (remy bean), Sunday, 21 August 2011 03:42 (fourteen years ago)
your mom
― mookieproof, Sunday, 21 August 2011 03:47 (fourteen years ago)
The SouthlandThe ValleyThe Inland EmpireThe WestsideThe Eastside
― the wheelie king (wk), Sunday, 21 August 2011 04:34 (fourteen years ago)
The Hague
― Autumn Almanac, Sunday, 21 August 2011 04:38 (fourteen years ago)
The Sudan.The Antarctic.
― fields of salmon, Sunday, 21 August 2011 04:44 (fourteen years ago)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEsRYkRpySY
― Shrimpkin mæchen barfen (Eisbaer), Sunday, 21 August 2011 04:48 (fourteen years ago)
The Dalles, ORThe PalouseThe UP
― joygoat, Sunday, 21 August 2011 04:58 (fourteen years ago)
The Gambia
a lot of these are hangovers from imperialism iirc
― Countdown to Alma Cogan (Noodle Vague), Sunday, 21 August 2011 07:55 (fourteen years ago)
The LebanonThe CongoThe Wirral
― Ismael Klata, Sunday, 21 August 2011 07:57 (fourteen years ago)
the caltonthe garngadthe gallowgatethe falls roadthe shankhill road
― you've got male (jim in glasgow), Sunday, 21 August 2011 08:00 (fourteen years ago)
Ugh, I hate it when columnists insist on The King's Road, The Edgware Road etc for any old place around London. The M6 is fair play though.
― Ismael Klata, Sunday, 21 August 2011 08:03 (fourteen years ago)
There isn't a definite article in Russian. I get the impression that 'the Crimea' is slowly being phased out in English when talking about the modern region but is still used almost universally when talking about the war / historical region.
― goldie hawn (ShariVari), Sunday, 21 August 2011 08:05 (fourteen years ago)
The Lizard
― Aphex Twin … in my vagina? (Karen D. Tregaskin), Sunday, 21 August 2011 08:06 (fourteen years ago)
The Weald
― Countdown to Alma Cogan (Noodle Vague), Sunday, 21 August 2011 08:12 (fourteen years ago)
The Great Orme
― Aphex Twin … in my vagina? (Karen D. Tregaskin), Sunday, 21 August 2011 08:16 (fourteen years ago)
but "Orme's Head" no "the"
― Countdown to Alma Cogan (Noodle Vague), Sunday, 21 August 2011 08:21 (fourteen years ago)
The Wrekin
to "go round the Wrekin" is a phrase used by my old man meaning to take a circuitous route either literally or metaphorically
― Countdown to Alma Cogan (Noodle Vague), Sunday, 21 August 2011 08:23 (fourteen years ago)
the old transvaalthe bermuda triangle
― estela, Sunday, 21 August 2011 08:30 (fourteen years ago)
the morning side of the mountainthe twilight side of the hill
― estela, Sunday, 21 August 2011 08:32 (fourteen years ago)
the bronx
― lex pretend, Sunday, 21 August 2011 08:43 (fourteen years ago)
The Bronx is my favourite, it raises the possibility of there being a single Bronck somewhere therein.
― Ismael Klata, Sunday, 21 August 2011 08:54 (fourteen years ago)
it makes me think of the sphinx
― lex pretend, Sunday, 21 August 2011 08:54 (fourteen years ago)
there should be a sphinx of the bronx
also spanx, i guess
the ned raggett
― buzza, Sunday, 21 August 2011 08:55 (fourteen years ago)
the yukon
― lex pretend, Sunday, 21 August 2011 08:56 (fourteen years ago)
The Massif Central sounds like a Dutch hiphop crew
― Ismael Klata, Sunday, 21 August 2011 08:59 (fourteen years ago)
"i guess (the) ukraine is beyond this now, but perhaps we still have (the) crimea"
"There isn't a definite article in Russian.
― goldie hawn (ShariVari), Sunday, August 21, 2011 9:05 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark"
iirc there's an issue of whether to use 'v' or 'na' to say 'in ukraine'. I think na implies it's still a province.
― Vasco da Gama, Sunday, 21 August 2011 10:43 (fourteen years ago)
That London
― Why'd You Wanna Tweet Me So Bad? (dog latin), Sunday, 21 August 2011 10:56 (fourteen years ago)
The Wisconsin Dells
― L.P. Hovercraft (WmC), Sunday, 21 August 2011 12:35 (fourteen years ago)
The Dalles, ORThe PalouseThe UP― joygoat, Sunday, August 21, 2011 12:58 AM (7 hours ago) Bookmark
― joygoat, Sunday, August 21, 2011 12:58 AM (7 hours ago) Bookmark
Da UP
― kkvgz, Sunday, 21 August 2011 12:57 (fourteen years ago)
The Woodlands, TX
― kkvgz, Sunday, 21 August 2011 13:00 (fourteen years ago)
The People's Republic of Cork
― Can't Stop the Rop (seandalai), Sunday, 21 August 2011 13:36 (fourteen years ago)
The Netherlands
― Can't Stop the Rop (seandalai), Sunday, 21 August 2011 13:39 (fourteen years ago)
the fens
― old money entertainment (history mayne), Sunday, 21 August 2011 13:40 (fourteen years ago)
The Boondocks
― Countdown to Alma Cogan (Noodle Vague), Sunday, 21 August 2011 13:42 (fourteen years ago)
The River ________
― Merdeyeux, Sunday, 21 August 2011 13:46 (fourteen years ago)
the maghreb
― old money entertainment (history mayne), Sunday, 21 August 2011 13:49 (fourteen years ago)
the negev
― Countdown to Alma Cogan (Noodle Vague), Sunday, 21 August 2011 13:50 (fourteen years ago)
The Holloway Road.
― Ned Caligari (Tom D.), Sunday, 5 May 2019 13:14 (six years ago)
The Gorbals.
― Ned Caligari (Tom D.), Sunday, 5 May 2019 13:15 (six years ago)
The Trongate. I'm sure Glasgow has a lot of these.
― Ned Caligari (Tom D.), Sunday, 5 May 2019 13:17 (six years ago)
The Hurlet. An area between Paisley and Glasgow, which only exists as the name of carvery now but people still refer to it.
― Ned Caligari (Tom D.), Sunday, 5 May 2019 13:22 (six years ago)
... and the carvery is closing too, so the Hurlet is now literally a stretch of road and some fields.
― Ned Caligari (Tom D.), Sunday, 5 May 2019 13:25 (six years ago)
And, of course, most towns in the UK will have the High Street.
― Ned Caligari (Tom D.), Sunday, 5 May 2019 13:36 (six years ago)
the sahel
― mookieproof, Thursday, 14 November 2019 04:40 (six years ago)
The Nullarbor
― American Fear of Pranksterism (Ed), Thursday, 14 November 2019 05:27 (six years ago)
Did we mention itt that a lot of the time the "the" is added because the name refers to a geographical feature? Like the Ukraine because ukraine derives from "borderland", the Philippines because they're the Philippine islands, the sahel because sahel derives from coast in arabic, the Gambia because the small country's whole territory is along the Gambia river (the Congo for the DRC similarly due to an eponymous river), the Sudan because Sudan is short for "bilad-as-sudan" ("the land of the blacks") etc
― -_- (jim in vancouver), Thursday, 14 November 2019 06:15 (six years ago)
The Lebanon because of the mountain
― -_- (jim in vancouver), Thursday, 14 November 2019 06:19 (six years ago)
Hometownpeninsula thoughts... I guess the Wirral might fit that pattern, with the common usage of the definite article coming from 'The Wirral Peninsula'.
― brain (krakow), Thursday, 14 November 2019 11:17 (six years ago)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Villages,_Florida
― tempted by the fruit of your mother (Ye Mad Puffin), Thursday, 14 November 2019 15:03 (six years ago)
The Hamptons
(loads here in the Netherlands. The country's name kind of gives it away)
― Le Bateau Ivre, Thursday, 14 November 2019 15:06 (six years ago)
The Colony, Texas
― ☮ (peace, man), Thursday, 14 November 2019 15:13 (six years ago)
The Trossachs
― 'Skills' Wallace (Tom D.), Thursday, 14 November 2019 15:15 (six years ago)
The Wash
― 'Skills' Wallace (Tom D.), Thursday, 14 November 2019 15:22 (six years ago)
The Shore (as part of the New Jerseyism "We're going down the shore this weekend.")
― Hideous Lump, Friday, 15 November 2019 03:24 (six years ago)
define The Shore
like, atlantic city to cape may, or something else
― mookieproof, Friday, 15 November 2019 05:28 (six years ago)
the ohio state university
― na (NA), Friday, 15 November 2019 15:20 (six years ago)
I'm sure Glasgow has a lot of these.
The Broomielaw
― 'Skills' Wallace (Tom D.), Friday, 15 November 2019 15:22 (six years ago)
Edinburgh meanwhile has The Meadows.
― 'Skills' Wallace (Tom D.), Friday, 15 November 2019 15:24 (six years ago)
https://i.imgur.com/sRUdP8I.png
Would venture to guess that exactly zero people have ever called it that.
― pplains, Friday, 15 November 2019 19:23 (six years ago)
London: The City; The Elephant; The Borough (?)
― fetter, Friday, 15 November 2019 20:58 (six years ago)
The Oranges (cities in Jersey)The Fairfields (towns in CT)
These are both along the I-95 corridor, weird that no one mentioned them previously
― blue light or electric light (the table is the table), Friday, 15 November 2019 21:45 (six years ago)
the elephant and the city yes, not the borough.
― Fizzles, Friday, 15 November 2019 21:56 (six years ago)
The Calton.
― Subverted by buggery (Tom D.), Saturday, 13 June 2020 18:15 (five years ago)
the cowley road (oxford)
― closed beta (NotEnough), Saturday, 13 June 2020 21:09 (five years ago)
The Grove, TexasThe Village, OklahomaThe Plains, Virginia
― pplains, Saturday, 13 June 2020 21:26 (five years ago)
The Plains is home to Great Meadow.. ok.
― pplains, Saturday, 13 June 2020 21:27 (five years ago)
the barracksthe bungo
― ||||||||, Saturday, 13 June 2020 21:34 (five years ago)
Lots of distinctive geographic features use the definite article, e.g. The Grand Canyon (of the Colorado), The Panhandle (of Texas or Idaho), The Great Lakes, etc.
― A is for (Aimless), Saturday, 13 June 2020 23:31 (five years ago)
Le Plateau/The Plateau in Montreal. Fantastic sour beers.
― fields of salmon, Friday, 22 January 2021 00:56 (five years ago)
La Manche(The English Channel in French)
― Li'l Brexit (Tracer Hand), Friday, 22 January 2021 01:24 (five years ago)
The Islets of Langerhans
― Hideous Lump, Friday, 22 January 2021 05:43 (five years ago)
Preposition + definite article
Unter den Linden
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Friday, 22 January 2021 05:49 (five years ago)
― Hideous Lump, Thursday, November 14, 2019 10:24 PM (one year ago) bookmarkflaglink
― mookieproof, Friday, November 15, 2019 12:28 AM (one year ago) bookmarkflaglink
I would say that for most Jerseyans who regularly go "down the shore," it means whichever beach town you've been going to since you were a kid. My "down the shore" is Lavallette.
― Hideous Lump, Friday, 22 January 2021 05:56 (five years ago)
There's also the linguistic phenomenon where you give your town a jokey nickname that uses the definite article, as in "The O.C." or "the Illadelph," or my hometown version of this, "The Banks" for Fairbanks, AK. Where did this come from? What is it modeling itself on?
― Lily Dale, Friday, 22 January 2021 06:21 (five years ago)
I’d like to know this tooIn “the” UK there’s “the ends” which just means pretty much any working class neighbourhood
― Li'l Brexit (Tracer Hand), Wednesday, 24 March 2021 12:49 (four years ago)
The Philippines The AzoresThe Seychelles
― Li'l Brexit (Tracer Hand), Wednesday, 24 March 2021 12:52 (four years ago)
The Caucasus
― Li'l Brexit (Tracer Hand), Wednesday, 24 March 2021 12:53 (four years ago)
In “the” UK there’s “the ends” which just means pretty much any working class neighbourhood
That's just a London thing isn't it?
― Duncan Disorderly (Tom D.), Wednesday, 24 March 2021 13:02 (four years ago)
Rivers have this. Most mountains don't... apart from The Eiger and The Matterhorn?
― Duncan Disorderly (Tom D.), Wednesday, 24 March 2021 13:07 (four years ago)
As an ESL teacher, articles are one of the worst, most arcane aspects of the English language.
― Bastard Lakes (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Wednesday, 24 March 2021 13:19 (four years ago)
The definite article with namesWe do not normally use the definite article with names:William Shakespeare wrote Hamlet.Paris is the capital of France.Iran is in Asia.But we do use the definite article with:countries whose names include words like kingdom, states or republic:the United Kingdomthe Kingdom of Bhutanthe United Statesthe People's Republic of China countries which have plural nouns as their names:the Netherlandsthe Philippinesgeographical features, such as mountain ranges, groups of islands, rivers, seas, oceans and canals:the Himalayasthe Canariesthe Atlantic (Ocean)the Amazonthe Panama Canalnewspapers:The TimesThe Washington Postwell-known buildings or works of art:the Empire State Buildingthe Taj Mahalthe Mona Lisaorganisations:the United Nationsthe Seamen's Unionhotels, pubs and restaurants:the Ritzthe Ritz Hotelthe King's Headthe Déjà VuBut note that we do not use the definite article if the name of the hotel or restaurant is the name of the owner:Brown'sBrown's HotelMorel'sMorel's Restaurantfamilies:the Obamasthe Jacksons
― Bastard Lakes (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Wednesday, 24 March 2021 13:30 (four years ago)
Tom yeah I think you're right
― Li'l Brexit (Tracer Hand), Wednesday, 24 March 2021 13:32 (four years ago)
yes, no the for most mountains, or for that matter lakes, or magazines
― Bastard Lakes (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Wednesday, 24 March 2021 13:34 (four years ago)
the plus street name seems to crop up a lot when talking about non-British streets for some reason, e.g. "in the Mariahilferstraße"
― joni mitchell jarre (anagram), Wednesday, 24 March 2021 14:53 (four years ago)
https://i.imgur.com/Ai3o1Mo.jpg
― pplains, Wednesday, 24 March 2021 14:59 (four years ago)
OT: I get why it's Rio Bravo and Mississippi River, but why is it Lake Michigan and Great Salt Lake?
― pplains, Wednesday, 24 March 2021 15:03 (four years ago)
The Minch
― Posts That Witness Madness (Tom D.), Saturday, 26 July 2025 23:36 (six months ago)