7/16 – "Not The Staples Center"

16 Jul

The home arena for the Los Angeles Lakers (LA Kings and who could forget the Clippers too!) is actually called “Staples Center.”   It is not “THE Staples Center.”

I have no idea what the deal is with this.  I guess it’s because the store is not the “The Staples,” it’s just Staples.  Even with that line of thinking, I still feel left in the dark.   Technically by adding the word “the” you aren’t altering the name of the company.

Perhaps what’s even more contradictory and senseless is that it actually bothers me when other people inaccurately refer to the venue as The Staples Center.   This is despite me too actually believing this should be the name.

I bet you wish you had that last minute or so back.

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  • http://www.extremejohn.com Extreme John

    That was pretty deep.

    or

    was pretty deep?

    Ok not really the same, but I get it and for the record I always say “The Staples Center”.

    Extreme John’s last blog post..Goliath Grouper Video

  • http://fauxtrixie.blogspot.com fauxtrixie

    I’m guessing people call it the “Staples Center” because in the English language, we use articles to identify objects. Normally, “the” is used to suggest the exact object being referred to (e.g. the red apple on the table refers to the exact red apple on the exact table). Conversely, the article a (or an) is used as a general article (e.g. a red apple on a table is merely a statement about some apple on some table. It doesn’t point to a specific apple or table).

    I’m assuming there is only one staples center. As such, when people refer to it, they have the say the “staples center” instead of a “staples center.”

    So there.

    fauxtrixie’s last blog post..There’s something to be said about rock stars.