thee for the

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Nov 12, 2007 10:52 PM, James Harbeck <jharbeck at sympatico.ca> wrote:
>
> I wonder whether "thee" use in this way is on the increase or
> decrease or is level.

Quasi-archaic "thee" was also used by a lot of rock bands in the '60s,
mostly in the garage/psychedelia genre: Thee Midniters, Thee Muffins,
Thee Saints and The Prince of Darkness, Thee Wylde Main-iacs, Thee
Young Generation, etc. Garage revivalists started using it again in
the '80s and '90s: Thee Corsairs, Thee Fourgiven, Thee Headcoats, Thee
Mighty Caesars, Thee Milkshakes, Thee Shams, Thee Shatners, etc.

(I'm sure there's a thesis out there on intentionally misspelled band
names, from The Beatles, The Byrds, The Iveys, The Monkees, and The
Cyrkle on down...)


--Ben Zimmer

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org