re: #155 sizzzzlerz

Applying “the” to highway numbers seems to be a naming convention used in southern Cal. The 5. The 405. The 101. Everywhere else, they’re just “5”, “405”, and “101”. You’ll hear people use “the” is other locations but I can almost guarantee that they had been in southern Cal at some point in their lives.

Also a Buffalo/Rochester shibboleth.

If you’re from Buffalo, you drive on “the 190” and “the 33.” (Or the 198, which is the Scajaquada, which is pronounced “Fred,” but with a silent B.)

An hour east here in Rochester, it’s just “390” and “490” and never “the.”

And I misspoke earlier… “Avon” here rhymes with “have on,” and it’s a sure sign of an outsider to pronounce it like “rave on.”