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vitriolic
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2004 10:07 am
Post subject: Confusing articles |
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I often wondered the use the in certain specific noun. Rule is if an
item is unique use "the", as in the Sun , the moon, etc. Then why it
is not used in the case of God.? There may be other similar omissions.
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meirman
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2004 10:40 am
Post subject: Re: Confusing articles |
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In alt.english.usage on 9 Sep 2004 21:07:57 -0700 wittriolic@yahoo.com
(vitriolic) posted:
| Quote: | I often wondered the use the in certain specific noun. Rule is if an
item is unique use "the", as in the Sun , the moon, etc. Then why it
is not used in the case of God.? There may be other similar omissions.
|
Very few rules of English don't have exceptions.
And "the" is used with God sometimes, as in "The God of our
fathers..." In fact, "the God of aaaa" occurs 227 times in English
translations of the Jewish Bible. (Where aaaa can be heaven, the
earth, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Beth-El, Nahor, which fed me all my life
to this day, the Hebrews, Israel, the spirits of all flesh, Jeshurun,
my rock, etc.)
When god is not capitalized, or evfen when it is, it is often used
with "the", the god of fire, the god of the underworld, etc.
When God is not used with any article, like "the", it's because in
many cases, it's used like a name, as in "And God spoke to Noah..."
etc. Like one would say, Steve spoke to Bob.
s/ meirman If you are emailing me please
say if you are posting the same response.
Born west of Pittsburgh Pa. 10 years
Indianapolis, 7 years
Chicago, 6 years
Brooklyn NY 12 years
Baltimore 20 years |
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vitriolic
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Sep 11, 2004 4:35 am
Post subject: Re: Confusing articles |
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Thanks. This helps.It looks like God, I mean the Ominipotent,
ominiscent, ..God, used as a name; or as I sometimes think may be
because though he is unique, he is not known what exactly is? The
mostly used when both reader and the writer knows very well who they
were talking about?
meirman <meirman@invalid.com> wrote in message news:<1oa2k0drn2omafnqrtjg7vjnfa44f940q3@4ax.com>...
| Quote: | In alt.english.usage on 9 Sep 2004 21:07:57 -0700 wittriolic@yahoo.com
(vitriolic) posted:
I often wondered the use the in certain specific noun. Rule is if an
item is unique use "the", as in the Sun , the moon, etc. Then why it
is not used in the case of God.? There may be other similar omissions.
Very few rules of English don't have exceptions.
And "the" is used with God sometimes, as in "The God of our
fathers..." In fact, "the God of aaaa" occurs 227 times in English
translations of the Jewish Bible. (Where aaaa can be heaven, the
earth, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Beth-El, Nahor, which fed me all my life
to this day, the Hebrews, Israel, the spirits of all flesh, Jeshurun,
my rock, etc.)
When god is not capitalized, or evfen when it is, it is often used
with "the", the god of fire, the god of the underworld, etc.
When God is not used with any article, like "the", it's because in
many cases, it's used like a name, as in "And God spoke to Noah..."
etc. Like one would say, Steve spoke to Bob.
s/ meirman If you are emailing me please
say if you are posting the same response.
Born west of Pittsburgh Pa. 10 years
Indianapolis, 7 years
Chicago, 6 years
Brooklyn NY 12 years
Baltimore 20 years |
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Raymond S. Wise
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Sep 11, 2004 12:31 pm
Post subject: Re: Confusing articles |
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wittriolic@yahoo.com (vitriolic) wrote in message news:<30da853.0409101435.3e31cf29@posting.google.com>...
| Quote: | Thanks. This helps.It looks like God, I mean the Ominipotent,
ominiscent, ..God, used as a name; or as I sometimes think may be
because though he is unique, he is not known what exactly is? The
mostly used when both reader and the writer knows very well who they
were talking about?
|
Consider other terms which are used without "the": "Sloth is one of
the seven deadly sins." "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."
"Nature abhors a vacuum." "Qi is omnipresent."
Then there are cases where a definite article is used by some and not
by others. The biggest mall in the United States, located in
Bloomington, Minnesota, is called "the Mall of America" by many people
who live around here. The owners of the mall itself prefer to refer to
it as "Mall of America."
I just now did a search and found that some people say "Qi" and some
say "the Qi" (as in "Can you feel the Qi?")
Many people my age can remember when we said "Smokey the Bear" for the
USDA Forest Service mascot. That was changed to "Smokey Bear" many
years ago.
While there are rules concerning the use of definite articles, even we
native speakers of English are a bit confused about them.
--
Raymond S. Wise
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
E-mail: mplsray @ yahoo . com |
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Michael DeBusk
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Sep 11, 2004 3:11 pm
Post subject: Re: Confusing articles |
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On 10 Sep 2004 23:31:57 -0700, Raymond S. Wise <mplsray@my-deja.com> wrote:
| Quote: | Consider other terms which are used without "the": "Sloth is one of
the seven deadly sins."
|
If someone said "The Sloth", one might thing it referred to the animal.
| Quote: | The biggest mall in the United States, located in Bloomington,
Minnesota, is called "the Mall of America" by many people who live
around here. The owners of the mall itself prefer to refer to it as
"Mall of America."
|
Except around Christmastime, when it's called "The Maul".
--
Michael DeBusk, Co-Conspirator to Make the World a Better Place
Did he update http://home.earthlink.net/~debu4335/ yet? |
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meirman
Guest
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| Posted: Sun Sep 12, 2004 6:19 am
Post subject: Re: Confusing articles |
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In alt.english.usage on 10 Sep 2004 15:35:39 -0700
wittriolic@yahoo.com (vitriolic) posted:
| Quote: | Thanks. This helps.It looks like God, I mean the Ominipotent,
ominiscent, ..God, used as a name; or as I sometimes think may be
because though he is unique, he is not known what exactly is? The
mostly used when both reader and the writer knows very well who they
were talking about?
|
The writer and the intended reader, at least.
| Quote: | meirman <meirman@invalid.com> wrote in message news:<1oa2k0drn2omafnqrtjg7vjnfa44f940q3@4ax.com>...
In alt.english.usage on 9 Sep 2004 21:07:57 -0700 wittriolic@yahoo.com
(vitriolic) posted:
I often wondered the use the in certain specific noun. Rule is if an
item is unique use "the", as in the Sun , the moon, etc. Then why it
is not used in the case of God.? There may be other similar omissions.
Very few rules of English don't have exceptions.
And "the" is used with God sometimes, as in "The God of our
fathers..." In fact, "the God of aaaa" occurs 227 times in English
translations of the Jewish Bible. (Where aaaa can be heaven, the
earth, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Beth-El, Nahor, which fed me all my life
to this day, the Hebrews, Israel, the spirits of all flesh, Jeshurun,
my rock, etc.)
When god is not capitalized, or evfen when it is, it is often used
with "the", the god of fire, the god of the underworld, etc.
When God is not used with any article, like "the", it's because in
many cases, it's used like a name, as in "And God spoke to Noah..."
etc. Like one would say, Steve spoke to Bob.
s/ meirman
|
s/ meirman If you are emailing me please
say if you are posting the same response.
Born west of Pittsburgh Pa. 10 years
Indianapolis, 7 years
Chicago, 6 years
Brooklyn NY 12 years
Baltimore 20 years |
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meirman
Guest
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| Posted: Sun Sep 12, 2004 6:29 am
Post subject: Re: Confusing articles |
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In alt.english.usage on 10 Sep 2004 23:31:57 -0700 mplsray@my-deja.com
(Raymond S. Wise) posted:
| Quote: |
Many people my age can remember when we said "Smokey the Bear" for the
USDA Forest Service mascot. That was changed to "Smokey Bear" many
years ago.
|
What gets me is that the Forest Service, or some group, claims he was
always Smokey Bear, and never Smokey the Bear. Are they on drugs or
what?
BTW, what's Smokey the Bear's middle name?
It's "the".
Why would have we told that joke if his name wasn't Smokey the Bear,
and we learned that primarily from the public service announcements
produced by the Forest Service. "Smokey the Bear says 'Only you can
prevent forest fires.'"
He'll always be Smokey the Bear to me.
s/ meirman If you are emailing me please
say if you are posting the same response.
Born west of Pittsburgh Pa. 10 years
Indianapolis, 7 years
Chicago, 6 years
Brooklyn NY 12 years
Baltimore 20 years |
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raymond o'hara
Guest
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| Posted: Sun Sep 12, 2004 7:15 am
Post subject: Re: Confusing articles |
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"meirman" <meirman@invalid.com> wrote in message
news:a067k0d31hrmf1ir9ko7rf9njak893na71@4ax.com...
| Quote: | In alt.english.usage on 10 Sep 2004 23:31:57 -0700 mplsray@my-deja.com
(Raymond S. Wise) posted:
Many people my age can remember when we said "Smokey the Bear" for the
USDA Forest Service mascot. That was changed to "Smokey Bear" many
years ago.
What gets me is that the Forest Service, or some group, claims he was
always Smokey Bear, and never Smokey the Bear. Are they on drugs or
what?
BTW, what's Smokey the Bear's middle name?
It's "the".
Why would have we told that joke if his name wasn't Smokey the Bear,
and we learned that primarily from the public service announcements
produced by the Forest Service. "Smokey the Bear says 'Only you can
prevent forest fires.'"
He'll always be Smokey the Bear to me.
|
And to me too
A great joke too. Right up there with "what's green and sits in the
backyard?"... Paddy O'Furniture |
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