thee for the

[David Bergdahl]

I've been at Ohio Univ for 39 years: the original use of the article with
OSU [formerly known as "State"] was on their radio station in the mid-70s,
if my memory serves me well, a practice picked up by our radio station and
then more generally by a past administration for all uses.  I guess the idea
was to sound classy.
-db

On Nov 13, 2007 7:40 PM, Gordon, Matthew J. <GordonMJ at missouri.edu> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Gordon, Matthew J." <GordonMJ at MISSOURI.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: thee for the
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I would have them say "Ohio State University" (or "Go Blue!"). It's the
> obsessive inclusion of the article, not the vowel quality used in
> pronouncing it, that I was noting. In this usage the article is commonly
> stressed and also pronounced with /i/.
> -Matt Gordon
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society on behalf of David Bergdahl
> Sent: Tue 11/13/2007 6:16 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject:      Re: thee for the
>
> Isn't "thee Ohio State Univ" b/c Ahiya begins w/a vowel?  Would you have
> 'em
> say "Th'Ohio State Univ"?
> -db
>
> On Nov 13, 2007 5:50 PM, Alice Faber <faber at haskins.yale.edu> wrote:
>
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> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Alice Faber <faber at HASKINS.YALE.EDU>
> > Organization: Haskins Laboratories
> > Subject:      Re: thee for the
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Laurence Horn wrote:
> > > At 11:06 AM -0600 11/13/07, Matthew Gordon wrote:
> > >> Not surprisingly, there are lots of Google hits for "Thee Ohio State
> > >> University." Is the obsessive use of the definite article here a
> newish
> > >> phenomenon? It first came to my attention in the early 90s.
> > >>
> > >> -Matt Gordon
> > >
> > >  From what I'm told, there's been a lot of pressure applied in
> > > Columbus to achieve this affect.  It's certainly quite obvious when
> > > you hear the NFL starters from OSU provide their affiliation during
> > > the introductions at the beginning of game broadcasts.
> >
> > And at least one of the players from Illinois regularly introduces
> > himself as being from "the university of Chief Illiniwek"...so, yeah,
> > they use that the make a statement.
> >
> > --
> > ========================================================================
> > Alice Faber                                       faber at haskins.yale.edu
> > Haskins Laboratories                            tel: (203) 865-6163 x258
> > New Haven, CT 06511 USA                               fax (203) 865-8963
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