Defending Tom Hanks and ‘The 101’ designation
Q All of this piling on actor Tom Hanks for using the term “The 101” in his latest movie “The Circle” is complete canal water. I graduated from the same high school in the East Bay as Tom two years before he did and I use the term “the” before the highway number and have been asked why by a friend.
I think the reason people of my vintage use “the” is because when we were kids nobody said “Highway 17” or “Highway 580.” It was “The MacArthur Freeway” and “The Nimitz Freeway,” and the “THE” just stuck.
Peter Calimeris
A You raise an interesting point about the East Bay perspective. That naming convention does mirror the Los Angeles lexicon, which I’ve previously noted was chronicled by University of Southern California historian Nathan Masters.
There, drivers referred to local routes-turned-freeways by their destinations. For example, he wrote, “Angelenos knew the freeway to San Bernardino as the San Bernardino Freeway” — and other freeways as The Santa Monica, The Pasadena, The Ventura.
In the early 1960s, Masters said, the state started simplifying the naming sys- tem to 405, 110 and so on. The numbers started catching on with the public, but the “the” stuck —“giving rise to a regional idiom that still confounds and amuses outsiders today,” he added.
In the East Bay, the two major freeways you mention were named in honor of World War II Admiral Chester Nimitz (Highway 17, which became Interstate 880) and World War II Gen. Douglas MacArthur (Interstate 580) — and the driving public was quick to latch onto those heroes’ names for decades.
These days, however, most motorists say they’re driving 880 or 580, not the Nimitz or the MacArthur.
Besides, “the Nasty Nimitz” is not as terrible a drive as it used to be. Or is it?
Q Why someone puts “the” in front of the freeway number is such a minor, insignificant thing that I can’t believe it comes up so frequently. Is it really that important? Why do we need to differentiate ourselves so much from Southern California anyway? We’re all one state.
Gina
A We are? Q Up here we hate L.A. because of ... almost everything. L.A. is basically all fluff. No stuff. Their highest achievements are traffic, smog and gangsta rap (that being the best). Hearing their road slang is like pigeon English to our refined and sensitive NorCal ears. E.S.
A Refined and sensitive indeed. And ...
Q Calling it “the’’ 101 annoys many of us like nails on a chalkboard. N.M.
A Speaking of annoying ...
Q Frisco, Frisco, Frisco. Joe C.
A That can tick off many of us.
Q I wish there was a way to include more letters for Roadshow. I’ve figured out a way: Create more space in each column by forsaking the use of Interstate or Highway for the word “The.” Instead of Interstate 880, you’d have The 880? Don’t ya love it?
John LaLonde Pacific Grove
A Nooooooooo!!!!