Re: Countries with needless definite article.

["andy turnbull" andyt@xxxxxxxx]

It's not correct to refer to Lebanon as "the Lebanon" but the useage
probably dates from 80-90 years ago, when the geographical area now occupied
by Syria and Lebanon, (and perhaps Palestine) was described as "the Levant."
There is a country to the south of Canada that is often referred to as "the
United States.

andy t
----- Original Message -----
From: 
To: "XyWrite list" 
Sent: Tuesday, January 08, 2008 1:24 PM
Subject: Countries with needless definite article.
[Flash:]
Michael Edwards muses:

≪I have an idea that there's one country that is still almost always
prefixed with "the", although I don't recall which one it is≫

Er, The Philippines?
   Well, yes, I guess that is one; but it isn't the one I had mind.
I've thought about it a bit further, and I believe "the Lebanon" is the
one I was trying to think of (which I did mention earlier).
   I'm thinking of an A.B.C. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
current-affairs presenter who always says "the Lebanon", and I always
found it curious and illogical - even the tiniest touch irritating, since
it seemed to be utterly without reason. I suppose it's some antique
linguistic/historic fossil which is amazingly persistent even today.
   Perhaps it's a bit like people who refer to India and some of its
neighbouring countries as "the subcontinent", even though they are
talking about the political/social entities those countries represent,
and even though I believe a subcontinent is only a geological entity, not
a political or national one. It just sounds strange to me.

             Regards,
             Michael Edwards.





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