[A reader, on my grumbling about another reader calling us THE National Review–a very common error, by the way] “It’s axiomatic that names without ‘The’ in the front are hipper than things without. Witness: ‘Talking Heads’ v. ‘THE Talking Heads.’”

[Me] I’ve often wondered why some COUNTRIES get a “the”. Though this seems to be fading out. When I was a kid, it was “The Argentine,” “The Ukraine,” “The Lebanon,” “The Netherlands,” “The Gambia,” and others I can’t recall. What happened to the “the”?