The "The"

 

Some years ago a colleague announced that she was going for an eye appointment. So, relishing an opportunity for snarkiness, I asked, “Which eye?”

The moment prompted me to think about an oddity in English usage. And who was she going to see? The eye doctor. Not an eye doctor. Like the rest of us, she spoke as if there were only one eye doctor in all of Spokane.

Or take the statement, “I’m going to the store to….” Again, not a store, but apparently the only retail outlet for miles around: the store.

I’m not sure why we do that. Everyone hearing our use of the definite article knows we’re not implying there’s only one eye doctor or one store. But then we’d say something like, “I heard from a neighbor that….” You wouldn’t say, “I heard from the neighbor….” unless your listener knew that you lived in the boonies and had only one neighbor. (The boonies… Only one of them?)

Then there’s the Ohio State University. Not just any old Ohio State University, but the Ohio State University. It’s not as if there are 27 other Ohio State universities (not to be confused with Ohio University). There’s just the one Ohio State. (Where, coincidentally, my daughter got her PhD.) But the institution insists on the the. Why? OSU takes the the so seriously that it has now officially trademarked that little word as part of its name. A prolonged legal battle culminated last month with the university getting permission to protect its university-branded clothing line with the Ohio State logo, a licensing and trademark operation that generates $12.5 million a year for the school.

An Oxford Dictionary project found that the is the most frequently used word in English. And now, thanks to OSU, its status is secure.

[300 words]