"the" (2)

[Helen East]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Johanna Rubba" <jrubba at calpoly.edu>

> Re British "the Burger King", this has a familiar ring to me. But my
> memories of British English are too foggy to verify or come up with
> other examples. Surely there are some Brits out there who subscribe to
> Funknet ... ?


We have something similar to the "the 405 (?freeway)" issue you mentioned in
that we refer to all our roads like this, from "the M25" (a notorious
carpark) to "the B1303" (minor road).
In these cases, it's not a shorthand for anything (eg, the B1303 road).
Although it's possible to say "the M25 motorway", I don't think anyone does,
and I don't think it would be acceptable to say "the B1303 road".

Personally I feel it's a uniqueness indicator but it's also a name (as in
the Hudson).

In my local area (Cambridge), certain roads are given "the" such as "the
Milton Road" (similar to "the Old Kent Road") by local people, but there
rest of us would call it Milton Road.   I suppose this stems from the road
originally leading to Milton (ie, "I'll meet you on the Milton Road as
opposed to the Huntingdon Road") as it only seems to apply to roads that do
lead in the direction their name suggests.


The "the Burger King" example could only work in my dialect if there was
only one BK in town.  It would not be acceptable IMHO if the speaker was
referring to the chain.   There's something weird, though, in that I can say

"I'll meet you in front of the Burger King"  but it's much harder to say
*"I'll meet you in front of the McDonalds."
Oh well, food for thought I guess.

Usage such as "the Nashville" and "I like the coffee" (generic) are very
interesting, as it's something EFL teachers try to stamp out all the time.
I'm currently teaching an Italian, so perhaps I should reconsider my
tactics.


Helen

Helen East
RCEAL
Cambridge