chipsinsideajar t1_j3x36sa wrote
Reply to comment by warrant2k in 'A sea of green': Central Australia in full bloom as floodwaters bring the Red Centre to life by is0ph
The 405 too
And the 110
And the 15
And the 210
And some random backroad in Industry cause a truck fell over again
warrant2k t1_j3x4dn2 wrote
Singin' the song of my people.
vacuum_everyday t1_j3xayve wrote
Serious question: why do Californians add “the” in front of everything, but especially freeways?Up north we just call it I-15. As in “I-15 is jammed with hours long delays.” Other freeways are just their number.
But “THE 15” setup is a dead giveaway they’re from California.
Blargcar t1_j3xjvbx wrote
Because Los Angeles and southern California had freeways before a lot of the country. Instead of numbers at first they had names like: The San Diego freeway, the Pasadena freeway, the long beach freeway. The San Diego freeway became the 405, Pasadena became 110 and long beach became 710, along with Ventura freeway (101).
So people were used to saying THE then the name. Then when they became numbers they were used to saying THE then the number. It makes sense when you think of it and know the history.
drop_phone_on_face t1_j3xw12b wrote
Oh, we do that in the UK too.
handyandy727 t1_j3xbs8f wrote
My wife is from California and still can't explain that. Maybe it's because state highways are so big too? Like Highway 90 is basically an interstate in size. I dunno.
ETA: We live in KY, and we just say "65" or "71". We omit the "I-" but don't use THE unless it's a parkway or expressway.
Blargcar t1_j3xkcu5 wrote
handyandy727 t1_j3xnb18 wrote
Today I learned.
Oryxhasnonuts t1_j3xdd9c wrote
[deleted] t1_j3xdo5u wrote
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[deleted] t1_j3xrztu wrote
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God_Damnit_Nappa t1_j3ysvuj wrote
If you're going somewhere you'd say something like "I'm on the freeway." I assume it's a similar reason. Like "I'm on the 405." It sounds weird to leave out "the." I don't personally buy the "well the freeways were named before they had numbers" explanation but I suppose that's a better reason that "just because."
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