[lbo-talk] Rise of Nasty Right

[Michael McIntyre]

Conventions about use of the definite article are almost entirely plastic,
as I'm reminded every time I pick up Economic and Political Weekly.  In LA,
evidently, the highway number is a proper noun, just like "The Dan Ryan" in
Chicago.  Stranger adventures with the definite article have been known to
happen.  It really threw me for a loop when I was learning Portuguese and
discovered that (a) in Brazil it's a real mark of having a stick up your ass
to EVER refer to someone by their last name, but that (b) in an academic
conference, you can't just refer to someone of high status by their first
name.  So, the rule becomes definite article + first name and sometimes
second name, as in "o Fernando Henrique" (a real reference to that
sociologist who was, you know, President of Brazil for awhile).

And why do people in LA always call a highway by "the" followed by its route
> number - "The 10," "The 405"?
>
> Doug
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