Originally Posted by Quicksilver

Asking a native Californian to give directions and listening for the presence or absence of the "the" is a pretty surefire way to tell if someone's from southern or northern California.

For example, in California's car-centered culture, nomenclature describing the state's extensive network of freeway s takes on a special prominence. One commonly noted difference (and perennial shibboleth ) between Northern California and Southern California English is the way in which an article may be appended to the label of a major freeway. While most native or longtime Los Angeles residents (and Southern Californians generally) are likely to refer to US Highway 101 or Interstate 5 , for example, as the 101 and the 5, residents of the San Francisco Bay Area are more likely to refer to those same roads as just 101 and 5 or I-5.

According to the strict definition of the english language is it proper to
use the article in this instance?....