Mav-- over in the Silver Pig thread replies and states:
My trusty old Chambers ...
which is perfectly understandable -- My Chambers is my favorite dictionary too, and i too, am liable to say, My Chambers.. and as i recall, Holmes, too, made a reference to checking out a word in My Chambers...(or was it Inspector Morse-of the Oxford Police (UK/PBS mystery series?)
Most times, when citing the OED-- it is just the -- the OED-- and Mav points out the AHD and other have quoted the M-W 10th... but Chambers is never the Chambers, it is always My Chambers!
The Bronx is an other odd man out-- all the other boroughs/counties of NY are just Queens, Kings, Manhattan, Richmond...) including upstate counties, Sullivan, Westchester, Orange, etc..
any other proper names of place or things that always take a special article?
Great question, Helen!
Le Havre and The Hague are the only ones that pop to mind, but I would imagine there are more.
Des Plaines (Illinois) seems somewhat akin.
Most universities go by University of whatever or whatever State University, but Ohio State insists on being The Ohio State University.
The Dalles, OR. And, to get back into the possessive, there's City of Industry, CA.
If Des Plaines (pronounced dess-plainz) counts, so does Des Moines, IA (pronounced d' moyn). Not to mention El Paso, TX and a plethora of other Hispanic named cities in La, Las, El and Los.
[slapping self in head -e] Faldage, how
could I have forgotten the plethora?
Faldage, how could I have forgotten the plethora?
Oh? I am sorry to hear that. Where did you see it last? You should attach one of those little electronic whistle thingies to it so you can get it to respond when you press the button on the control unit. You'll probably find it before long. They do tend to go off really quickly if they're not kept cool, and they seem to create an awful stench.
I probably have a spare plethora lying around somewhere if you really need one soon. I could dig it out and email it to you.
HTH
attach one of those little electronic whistle thingies to it
Or name it Mjöllnir so it'll come when you call it.
It always amuses me that the Disney-owned hockey team in California insists on calling itself "The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim" instead of "the Anaheim Mighty Ducks" in the format of every other sports team in America. The following is from their homepage (and note that calling the place they play their home games "Arrowhead Arena" would be far too prosaic for the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim):
The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim will take on the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday night, January 23rd at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim.
You should attach one of those little electronic whistle thingies to it so you can get it to respond when you press the button on the control unit. You'll probably find it before long. They do tend to go off really quickly if they're not kept cool, and they seem to create an awful stench.CK, are you speaking of my roving, rambunctious puppiedog?
ROTFLMAO. Your description fits her so perfectly that I may rename her Plethora. Thank you!!!
any other proper names of place or things that always take a special article?
There are bands galore. The Beatles. The Bee Gees. The Offspring. The Doors.
Locally, our hospitals always confuse me (which is a scary thought if I plan to be working in them). We have the Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH), The Queen Elizabeth Hospital (TQEH) and Flinders' Medical Centre (FMC).
place or things that always take a special article
When listening to Canadian newscasts, the use of "hospital" without "the" always sounds odd to me. The accident victim was taken to hospital - where I would be inclined to say, taken to the hospital. What's the usage in other places? Anyone? Is one more correct or common than the other? Thanks.
nk
All three English Québec universities go by their proper names when being referred to: McGill, Concordia, Bishops.
We will generally say, "I go to McGill," and rarely add the word university afterwords.
All the French university names are preceded by "the university of..."
Hospital names start with the...the Royal Vic., the Mtl General, the Jewish General EXCEPT those hospitals that are named after saints (eg. Sainte Justine)
Hospital, without the article, is more common here.
You mean there are some left? Don't tell the government ...
how could I have forgotten the plethora?
Keiva, do you even know what a plethora is? Work with me here.
Or name it Mjöllnir so it'll come when you call it.
I think you have to be a God for that to work.
do you even know what a plethora is?
Oooh, ooh, ooooh! I know, I know!
It's an ancient Greek stringed instrument tuned to Pythagorean thirds and plucked with a crane's feather.
how could I have forgotten the plethora?Keiva, do you even know what a plethora is? Work with me here.No, El Guapo. I don't know what a plethora is.
[straight-line -e 
]
In French, Cairo is Le Caire. And, like Le Havre, if a preposition is used before it, it combines with the article; e.g., Il est allé au Havre, elle est venue du Caire. I don't know what Dutch does with The Hague (den Haag, I think, in Dutch).
On the subject of universities and hospitals, my own alma mater is Johns Hopkins University. There is also Johns Hopkins Hospital, which is one of the 3 top hospitals in the USA. They were named for Johns Hopkins, a Quaker merchant and moneybags who died in 1870 with no children, leaving an estate of $7 million to found a university and a hospital, the largest charitable bequest in US history at the time (worth in today's money over $250 mil). He was named for John the Baptist and John the Evangelist, hence the name Johns, not John. In polite and/or educated circles in Maryland, it is axiomatic that whoever refers to John Hopkins U or Hosp shows him/herself to be an ignoramus. Notwithstanding, last Sunday we drove to our son's house near D.C. and on the way passed the intersection of Rt. 29 and Johns Hopkins Road, so identified by a prominent sign over the intersection. On the way home, I happened to notice that the sign at the same intersection identified it as John Hopkins Road. Apparently the sign facing the northbound lane is not the same as the one on the southbound side, and wrong at that.
I think you all need to watch The Three Amigos if you want to find this line of threading as amusing as I do.
No, El Guapo. I don't know what a plethora is. [straight-line -e]
So, how can you use the word plethora if you do not know what a plethora is?
Just see the movie.
I suspect it has to do with attempts to make it sound more noble. For example, it is common in the UK to have "The Hempsteads" or "The Rush House" or something equivalent, usually a well-established house or town. I suspect this follows through in other languages (Des, Le, La, El) where it is indicating this is *the* place, and there is no other like it. All copies and flatteries are so far beneath the original as to be beneath notice. I suspect "the Bronx" is derived from an older Dutch word/placename with a "the" equivalent in it, but the Webster's 3rd Intl version doesn't say.
Cheers,
Bryan
You are only wretched and unworthy if you choose to be.
The Bronx gets it name from one of the early dutch land holders-- Johanas Bronckes --or something similar-- there are varies spelling of the name --and the Bronx was always far away place, and not a desirable one, particularly. NY has many place names from former dutch and english land holders..
Van Cortlands gave their name to a park, the Van Wyck's to a parkway, near by their old farmstead, Dyckman, to Street, and neighborhood,NY Bowery is named for the bowery road that led to an estate. (curious now that is almost always associated with low life..Bowery bums!)
other NY names are just dutch place names recycled --Flushing, Harlem & New Utrecht, and some place names are from dutch terms for the land scape.. Fresh Kills, Flatbush, Spuyten Duyvil
I seem to be coming a bit late to this thread...
St. John's, a few years ago, took a nearby community called The Goulds under its wing. (Pronounced gooldz.) It's listed on maps as just "Goulds" but everyone includes the preceding "the". I don't understand why.
Furthermore, if an accident victim is taken to hospital, you just know they were injured enough to receive medical attention. If I heard to the hospital I'd be inclined to wonder which one. And that's usually not important to the story. That's my analysis of it, anyway...
See this is where you see the major influence of the majority French population on the English language in Québec. Here you would never say a person was taken to hospital. The person you are talking with would assume you are so nervous that you are speaking incorrectly and forgot to add the article. We always say to the hospital.
the Chambers, it is always My ChambersOh and as to the "the Chambers" / "my Chambers" debacle brought up by ofTroy.
Personnally, I have a Webster's so I can't comment about the whole
my dictionary aspect. I can only say that
the Chambers sounds like somewhere where you send someone to get tortured and
my Chambers is somewhere where you have a whole lot of fun and don't get tortured at all
unless you are into that sort of thing of course
In reply to:
See this is where you see the major influence of the majority French population on the English language in Québec. Here you would never say a person was taken to hospital.
Although the French are a minority in Angleterre, we would say "The victim was taken to hospital" as well.
Bingley