Originally published at: The, creepiest word in Macbeth | Boing Boing
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This is gonna be a pedant fest…
my 2c, I’d have written it, “The is the creepiest word in Macbeth”
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A lot of sound and fury signifying nothing.
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The creepiest part is that an AI program determined which word was creepy. My age and generation and everything, but I hear WOPR saying, “An interesting play, Dr. Falken. The creepiest word is the.”
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If you like over-analysing Macbeth, you’ll love James Thurber’s “The Macbeth Murder Mystery”!
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That’s why it’s THE Batman. 
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I’m not sure that I find the use of generics all that creepy.
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The Ohio State University
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FTFY
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It’s The Scottish definite article.
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This reminds me of how they refer to “El Mariachi” as “El” in Robert Rodriguez’s mariachi trilogy.
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oi, the english speaking choice of the definite vs indefinite. How often i (a science-geek, with no proper training in the linguistical arts), have had to attempt to explain to foreign academics the distinct meanings betwixt, and those with no article at all, (particularly to Chinese and Russian chemists). Then onto the shift between British english (or, as they’d say real english), and American; “Best get yourself to hospital with a cut like that!” (versus: a hospital). So often so arbitrary and yet so often so critical.
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Ahhh!
“Hot potato, orchestra stalls, Puck will make amends!”
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‘THE Zaphod Beeblebrox?’
‘No, just A Zaphod Beeblebrox, didn’t you hear I come in six packs?’
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Interestingly, it’s also “The Pennsylvania State University.” I had to confirm this for a publication I was editing, and was told by whatever office on campus determines these things that “we’re not as pretentious as some others who prefer to include ‘The’ in their title, so don’t worry if you don’t use it.”
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They’re younger than Gen X if they’ve never heard of Thurber I’d posit. That TV show was syndicated for years, even if they’d never heard of him as a writer.
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IIRC owls were seen as evil omens and even a harbinger of death. So The Owl, is the owl coming to reap souls/do evil, vs a random owl who is just a simple owl trying to make their way in the galaxy.
If any of you are watching Reservation Dogs, and you should be, in an episode they showed a fake owl and blurred its eyes, as they are seen sort of akin to the “evil eye”, casting curses or bad fortune.
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