Do we really need all the definite articles?

Why do radio news reports preface so many offices with a the?

The Prime Minsiter John Key said . . . , the leader of the opposition Phil Goff went . . . , the All Black captain Richie McCaw played  . . .

I’m not sure if it’s something new, or if I’ve just started noticing it, but nothing would be lost from the sense of the sentences if they started without a definite article.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 25th, 2011 at 12:00 pm and is filed under language, media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

5 Responses to Do we really need all the definite articles?

  1. James Rawiri Meager's avatar James Rawiri Meager says:
    25/07/2011 at 12:10 pm

    I guess the difference is whether you’re describing their position (“The Prime Minister John Key”) or their title (“Prime Minister John Key”).

    But even then it’s an arbitrary mix and match.

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  2. Quintin Hogg's avatar Quintin Hogg says:
    25/07/2011 at 12:17 pm

    I get irritated with interviewers ending a question with the words “…do you think?” or similar.
    And then there are the (non)words “learnings” and “summation” which are used instead of “lessons” and “summary”. These two put my teeth on edge.

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  3. Moist von Lipwig's avatar Moist von Lipwig says:
    25/07/2011 at 12:36 pm

    Yes, and while we’re bitchin. ‘ Behaviour’ does not need an ‘s’ to become plural.

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  4. Hollyfield's avatar Hollyfield says:
    25/07/2011 at 1:49 pm

    Maybe they get paid by the word.

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  5. Adolf Fiinkensein's avatar Adolf Fiinkensein says:
    25/07/2011 at 2:06 pm

    One of my pet hates is the frequent over-use of the word ‘that.’

    e.g.

    He said that the PM was…..

    Could just as easily be

    He said the PM was…..

    Thank goodness my mother and father taught me the virtue of brevity and the art of editing my own writing.

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