"the" before country name

[Katharine The Grate]

Ugh, around here they talk about going to 'the Wal-mart'.
And, often, 'the Wal-mark'

speaking of  a 'mark of prestige'   (sigh)

Katharine in N. California


> At 8:26 AM -0400 5/12/08, Charles Doyle wrote:
>>Speaking of place names and articles:
>>
>>"The" before a California-county-name-initialism
>>seems to be a mark of prestige: viz., "The O.C."
>>(Did we discuss this phenomenon a few months
>>ago, adducing analogs?)
>>
>>--Charlie
>

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