The other day I was chatting with a friend discussing directions to a restaurant we were planning on meeting up at later that evening. “Just take Interstate until the first exit in Moorhead…”
Now, if you read that sentence and you don’t see anything strange about it, I bet you are a native to this area. Was I confused about which interstate she was talking about? Nope, I knew you couldn’t take I-29 into Moorhead and the only other interstate option in the area is I-94. Did I not know what exit in Moorhead she was referencing? Nope… the first exit in Moorhead is pretty clear. You see, what my friend did was refer to it as “Interstate” instead of “the interstate”. While I try to embrace mostly everything about the culture of this area (mosquitoes and negative temperatures excluded) the omission of the word “the” in front of certain words really perplexes me.
This wasn’t the first time I had heard one of the major interstates in the area referred as “Interstate” before instead of THE interstate, at least not the first time in North Dakota. For whatever reason the word “the” has been removed when discussing these specific roads. You don’t hop on THE interstate and head towards Bismarck, you hop on Interstate. References to a road with a lack of direct article in front is not the only word I’ve noticed without a “the”. For example, instead of driving the tractor during the summer, or even “a” tractor, it becomes simply “driving tractor”.
When I’ve tried in the past to point this out to friends who omit the “the” or ask why they do it, they look at me like I’m crazy. Is there anything grammatically incorrect with it? Well, I’m no grammar queen but I don’t think so. Like many things in ND, leaving out the “the” is simply another quirky thing, like referring to sloppy Joe’s as barbecue, that an outsider like myself has noticed and thinks, “hmm… interesting.”
While I am now rather familiar with the lack of “the” in conversations, the occurrence still catches me off guard from time to time and never ceases to peak my curiosity. Whatever happened to the “the” anyway? Where did it go? Has the language in North Dakota evolved to a degree where direct articles such as the word “the” becomes unnecessary and time consuming? Did there ever used to be a “the” in front of these words? And most importantly, am I the only person who has noticed this? (Quite possibly).
The world may never know.
It is from (the) Nordic linguistic influence in (the) area. We would say “kjøre tractor” and my wife, a Swede with a number of years in Grand Forks, would probably say “köra tractor” (if we had one). We would not say “kjøre den tractor” as my parents’ British neighbor still says after some 57+ years in Norway. Tractor in general seems to be what it’s all about in ND according to my wife, to engage a “stranger” in a bar “conversation”, the safest bet would be a tractor related opening line according to her.
Look across the border to the north. Canadians, following common usage in Britain, drop it frequently. Up there, you are in hospital, not in the hospital.
I noticed this while visiting a friend in California! “You hop on the I-10″- etc. I will suggest that we have turned our interstates in to proper nouns here in the midwest, removing the need for the “the”.
In SD, it’s either “I-90″ or “I-29″ (no “the”), but it’s The Interstate when you can’t remember which one you’re close to.
I think the answer is rather simple. By eliminating the word “the”, North Dakotans avoid the tongue-thrust required to form the word, thereby minimizing opportunities for frostbite of the tongue in North Dakota’s artic air.
I’ve noticed older people will add “the” where it doesn’t belong… “I’m going to the Target to pick up some dog food” or “I’m going to the Jewels to buy groceries” So maybe there are only so many “thes” to use, and North Dakota is the last place to get them!
Maybe this explains why my mother continues to refer it as “Internet” and not “the internet.”
HUGE difference between Sloppy Joes and barbecue. Just ask someone from Texas or South Carolina! Here in western ND, we say Sloppy Joes.
I have always called them Sloppy Joes as well. BBQ is pulled pork and ribs. However, that seems not to be the case for some people out here.
I concur, but more specifically BBQ is the technique of slow cooking. I lived in NC for several years in the Army and anywhere South of the education line you do NOT mess with BBQ.
When I was in high school in Iowa, those same sammies were taverns, and there’s a huge difference between loosemeats, BBQs, and Sloppy Joes.
I’m a Minnesotan living temporarily in Ontario, Canada. Here I have noticed the dropped the’s with words such as hospital. Someone is “in hospital.” But in California, one doesn’t take Highway 101, but rather one takes “the 101″. It’s a good thing–keeps life interesting.
Hmmm. I’ve never noticed this before and I’m a native North Dakotan. Leaving the THE off sounds weird to me too and I’m pretty sure I use THE most of the time. (Btw, I also say sloppy joes.)
I’m going to have to pay attention to this now though. Quite interesting. Love your blog.
Is is left over from the German and Scandinavian immigrants- listen to Lawrence Welk and it becomes evident.
How about: “Do you want to go to the mall with?”
I know exactly what you’re talking about! I grew up in Florida, but have lived up here (Grand Forks/Fargo) for a few years now. I also married into a very North Dakota family. I notice the missing “the” most often when speaking of families. Rather than saying, “The Jones’ farm” locals will say “Jones’ farm.” Or, “We had a dinner at Nelson’s last night.” That’s not one person named Nelson, but a whole family: “The Nelsons” as other areas of the country would say.
Now here’s the question: I’ve always wondered if this practice is a holdover from either a) farm culture and homesteading practices somehow, or b) Norwegian and/or Swedish syntax corrupting English usage. Does anyone have ideas?
Adam that’s a great question! You know, I never thought about it but it very well could be related to the Scandinavian roots.
As a native of North Dakota I have a theory regarding dropping “the” before a family name. I believe this practice is due to people regarding a farm as primarily belonging to an individual farmer as opposed to the family as a whole. Thus the term “Jones’ farm” is shorthand for “Tom Jones’ farm”, not “the Jones family’s farm”. I believe this usage is backed up by my own family’s experience, where if there are multiple farms with owners of the same last name, it will be referred to using the first and last name of the farmer. It should then be fairly obvious how this practice continued as people moved into town and referred to one another’s houses.
And for what it’s worth, as a native of North Dakota I’ve never experienced this phenomena of dropping the word “the”, aside from the family references just discussed. I have noticed though the jarring use elsewhere in the country or world of referring to someone “going to university”, though I suppose it’s no more odd than “going to jail”, “going to court”, or “going to church”.