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The Word "The"
I'm hoping someone can help explain the use of the word "the" for me.
It seems like a lot of people are misusing this word, but I often have a hard time knowing when it is being misused. I notice this problem a lot more in it's use in titles of things (companies, bands, websites, books, etc..)
I work at Gap and I hear a lot of people calling Gap, "The Gap." I insist that it's just Gap, but I've heard customers and even other employees use "The Gap." I've even seen this printed in materials from that come from Gap. Why don't people say "The Banana Republic" or "The Sears" ?
(This may be a bad example because I think Gap used to be called "The Gap.")
I've seen people here call TFP, "The TFP." Where does the word "The" come from?
There are so many bands that sometimes have "The" in front of their names in some places and not in other places.
When I'm talking about the (mis?)use of the word "The" I don't mean:
"The Red Hot Chili Peppers song that I like the most is..."
I mean:
"I'm going to go see The Red Hot Chili Peppers in concert tomorrow."
I could give more examples, but I think I've gotten my point across. If anyone needs some clarification, let me know.
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"Delight in excellence is easily confused with snobbery by the ignorant." -Joseph Epstein
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