[aggrofish]

I just finished reading a somewhat humorous thread asking why people in SoCal call 405 "the" 405. I always refer to the 15 as the 15 - is this not normal?

[timothyaw]

It's just I-15.

[ecd3easy]

Originally Posted by aggrofish

I just finished reading a somewhat humorous thread asking why people in SoCal call 405 "the" 405. I always refer to the 15 as the 15 - is this not normal?

It's "The" 15. LOL. That's what i always call it. Oh just take the 15.

[ToeJam]

It is "The 15" if you are from SoCal. I don't know of any other areas that use "the".

[aggrofish]

^ yeah I never even noticed nor has anyone said anything. Probably because most of the people I know and work with are used to the 5, the 405, the 15, etc.

[Muonic]

Originally Posted by aggrofish

.....is this not normal?

Nope, it's only normal in California.

But that's just the way our language evolves. Different phrases and slang, in different parts of the country. 30 years ago, when I first joined the Navy, I had a roommate from California who would say something like "I'm going to detail my car this weekend". No one else in our class knew what the hell he was talking about. We all thought he was going to put pinstripes on it, or something. Turns out, he was simply talking about washing and waxing his car. Nowadays, everyone knows what detailing a car is...well, at least, I think they do.

Saying "Take the 405", sounds like you are giving directions for a bus or train route (or schedule), to me.

[Buzz123]

In California they have so many numbered highways it's just easier for them to say "The" whatever instead of Interstate 10, or I-405, or U.S. 110, or SR 118, etc. To make matters worse they named their freeways also, such as the Hollywood Freeway, the Golden State Freeway, or the Ventura Freeway.

"The" has sort of come into use here in the past decade or so. It used to drive me crazy as I was sick of being invaded by Californians. Now I sometimes use it myself, but usually when I'm being sarcastic.

Don't get me wrong, I like most Californians, especially when they stay in California. But they outnumber us and they tend to move into other states and just take over. We worried that they would come here and do unto Nevada what they did unto the Socialist Republic of Kalifornia.

Actually, carpetbaggers from every state are in Nevada now, and screwing with the best system any state ever had, which was, "lay off the heavy regulations on citizens." So we're getting used to hearing people say "The 15", and "The 95", which may not look like much, but it's proof that little by little, outside influence is ruining the last "free" state.

[ScoopLV]

I have heard Malibu, CA abbreviated more than once as "The 'Bu." What? That extra syllable to say "Malibu" properly is too much effort? Californians sound ridiculous to my ears.

And I can't stand hearing "The 15." It takes no more effort to say "I-15."

[AA702]

In NorCal we call the freeways the same. "the 101" "the 280" "the 880", but if its not an interstate it would be simply called "237" or "highway 4"

[observer53]

We do it here in Phoenix, too, they are all prefaced with "the", interstate or not. The subject came up recently in the Phoenix forum when someone from CT asked about why the numbered roads are referred to that way.