"The" Philippines

[Jonathan Lighter]

I call it "Mallowmar."  Most people don't notice.  My own contribution to jocular eggcorneana. Or is an eggcorn intended seriously by definition ?

JL

Wilson Gray <wilson.gray at RCN.COM> wrote:
---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Wilson Gray
Subject: Re: "The" Philippines
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On Mar 31, 2005, at 10:58 PM, Barbara Need wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: Barbara Need
> Subject: Re: "The" Philippines
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> --------
>
>> The Bronx is supposedly a way to refer to the family whose farm was
>> north of
>> Manhattan--the Bronck's farm. Barry, is it a myth?
>>
>> After independence, Ukraine dropped the "the"
>
> After independence they told English speakers to drop the "the". As
> far as I know, there is no definite article in Russian.
>
> I still use the phrase, "the Ukraine"--I also still refer to the
> African country as the Ivory Coast, despite the government's
> declaration that it is to be called nothing but Cote d'Ivoire.
>
> I have long been fascinated by the notion that countries feel that they
> can tell speakers of other languages how to speak those languages.
>
> Barbara
>

And, in addition, I intend to continue to use "Burma" until it's pried
from my cold, dead tongue.

-Wilson

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