# She's got "the" cancer ... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 2, 2004, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shes-got-the-cancer/258032 "2004-08-02T21:49:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ponster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponster/32/17081_2.png) [@Ponster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponster)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shes-got-the-cancer/258032/21 "2004-08-03T17:06:17Z")
> [@1920s Style "Death Ray"](#): > > I had assumed it to be an Irish thing, perhaps that’s part of its origins in the USA. I don’t know if it’s _just_ an Irish-thing but it’s true that back in the days that the book was based upon, and earlier, people spoke in this way. My grandmother often made references to ‘the sickness’ and/or ‘the cancer’. But in saying that, DanBlather’s example of ‘he has the pressure’ sounds just plain wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shes-got-the-cancer/258032/22 "2004-08-03T17:14:44Z")
Interestingly, I had a long conversation with my sister-in-law about this. Her family came from Japan through California, so they didn’t have much contact with the Irish immigrants. Her theory is that **the** separates the unspeakble from the run-of-the-mill. It wasn’t that long ago that a diagnosis of cancer was pretty much a death sentence, just as a generation earlier, _the_ influenza was what killed people, while flu was what made you feel bad for a week. ---
**Author:** ![Freejooky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba8739/32.png) [@Freejooky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freejooky)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shes-got-the-cancer/258032/23 "2004-08-03T17:29:11Z")
It’s actually more common among northern Jews, as it comes from Yiddish. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shes-got-the-cancer/258032/24 "2004-08-03T17:45:10Z")
> [@Roches](#): > > I think it was common in earlier written English to use ‘the’ . . . Up till the 1920s or so you’d say, “You hear, her daughter has gone into the show business . . .” ---
**Author:** ![alimarx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@alimarx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alimarx)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shes-got-the-cancer/258032/25 "2004-08-03T18:24:33Z")
Is how people refer to highways related in any way? In Boston, people say, “Ya take 495 to 95 nawth, then ya take 128 nawth…” In Southern California, people say, “You take **the** 15 to **the** 10, to **the** 57…” I suppose with traffic, they could seem like a disease. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shes-got-the-cancer/258032/26 "2004-08-03T18:32:30Z")
I remember when Peter Popoff used to call out audience members who were suffering from “the sugars”, meaning diabetes. Luckily all it took was a smack in the forehead and a “hallelujah” to make everything all better. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shes-got-the-cancer/258032/27 "2004-08-03T18:49:53Z")
> [@](#): > > Hmmm, even though it sounds funny, isn’t “the Calculus” technically the correct way to refer to that branch of math? Actually, it’s “the calculus of fluxions”. Really, “calculus” just tells you that it’s a branch of math (or maths, if you prefer), but doesn’t tell you which branch it is. ---
**Author:** ![pestie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e5b9ba/32.png) [@pestie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pestie)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shes-got-the-cancer/258032/28 "2004-08-03T19:28:35Z")
This is making its way into popular culture. I believe there was an episode of _Friends_ where reference was made to “the sex,” as in, “We’re going to have the sex.” And let’s not forget Jay’s line from _Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back_: “He loves the cock!” I know I read a thread on some message board, possibly here, where someone’s grandmother was referring to homosexuality as “the gay.” This is not to be confused with the 1337-5p33k version, “OMFG LOLOLOL!!!1! TH4T IS TEH GHEY!!1!ONE!!” “Teh funnay” is also seen in this context (with appropriate letter-mangling). (“teh” = common typo of “the,” often used in this context for reasons unbeknownst to anyone over the age of 17) ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shes-got-the-cancer/258032/29 "2004-08-03T19:29:38Z")
In my neck of the woods, people sometimes call diabetes “the sugar”. Also, people refer to diarrhea as “the die-ree”. Both are spoken more by the lower socioeconomic end of the spectrum and both grate my nerves to no end. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shes-got-the-cancer/258032/30 "2004-08-03T19:34:56Z")
Is this like smoking the crack cocaine? ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shes-got-the-cancer/258032/31 "2004-08-03T19:43:20Z")
Such forms of speech are generally refered to as: colloquialism’s or idiom’s NO it is not “Is this like smoking the crack cocaine?” ``` It is like smoking the crack! ``` ---
**Author:** ![OxyMoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9a140/32.png) [@OxyMoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OxyMoron)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shes-got-the-cancer/258032/32 "2004-08-03T22:11:05Z")
> [@spingears](#): > > Such forms of speech are generally refered to as: > > colloquialism’s or idiom’s Actually, no, they aren’t, unless those colloquialisms or idioms actually possess something. ---
**Author:** ![SpartanDC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@SpartanDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpartanDC)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shes-got-the-cancer/258032/33 "2004-08-03T22:51:56Z")
> [@pestie](#): > > (“teh” = common typo of “the,” often used in this context for reasons unbeknownst to anyone over the age of 17) Actually, Cecil’s [column](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/030110.html) on “leetspeek” explains the intentional misspellings thing pretty well. As for “the cancer”, I and other people my age (early to mid-20s) often use an unnecessary “the” in sort of an ironic way. I know I started using it around when I heard that Tiny Tim once recorded a song called, “Santa Claus Has The AIDS This Year.” My buddies and I also say “the sex” frequently, but I’m not sure when we started that or where we picked it up from. I just know it makes things funny. Example: “Jimmy and his girlfriend had sex last night.” (A statement of fact) vs. “Jimmy and his girlfriend had ‘the sex’ last night.” (INSTANT COMEDY!) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Jplacer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85f322/32.png) [@Jplacer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jplacer)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shes-got-the-cancer/258032/34 "2004-08-03T23:05:02Z")
It’s like these there youngsters watching the MTV all day. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shes-got-the-cancer/258032/35 "2004-08-04T00:07:13Z")
> [@Thudlow Boink](#): > > The flu? The clap? The bends? The mumps? The measles? ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shes-got-the-cancer/258032/36 "2004-08-04T00:08:54Z")
Dangit, now I have the _Laverne & Shirley_ theme in my head. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shes-got-the-cancer/258032/37 "2004-08-04T01:26:27Z")
> [@SNenc](#): > > “Jimmy and his girlfriend had ‘the sex’ last night.” (INSTANT COMEDY!) 😃 That Jimmy is one sick bastard, huh. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shes-got-the-cancer/258032/38 "2004-08-04T02:14:52Z")
Seems like in [The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1968)](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0063050/combined), Cicely Tyson’s character makes a reference to her husband “Willie,” lamenting the fact that he had to have his foot amputated because “he got the gangrene.” ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shes-got-the-cancer/258032/39 "2004-08-04T02:23:27Z")
> [@GilaB](#): > > That’s how I speak, in **the** very non-rural Bronx. Is it not standard English to say that someone plays the [instrument]? I’ve certainly heard the phrase both with and without the ‘the,’ but more commonly with it. Gee, we say it that way in the very non-rural Denver also. (oh, THAT Bronx . . .) ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shes-got-the-cancer/258032/40 "2004-08-04T02:51:15Z")
This reminds me of an episode of “Home Movies”, in which many of the children got “the lice”. Somehow, saying it that way made the infestation sound extremely funny. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shes-got-the-cancer/258032.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shes-got-the-cancer/258032.md?page=3)