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.
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.
It’s actually more common among northern Jews, as it comes from Yiddish.
Up till the 1920s or so you’d say, “You hear, her daughter has gone into the show business . . .”
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.
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.
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.
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)
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.
Is this like smoking the crack cocaine?
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!Actually, no, they aren’t, unless those colloquialisms or idioms actually possess something.
Actually, Cecil’s
column 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!) 
It’s like these there youngsters watching the MTV all day.
The mumps? The measles?
Dangit, now I have the Laverne & Shirley theme in my head.
That Jimmy is one sick bastard, huh.
Seems like in The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1968), 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.”
Gee, we say it that way in the very non-rural Denver also.
(oh, THAT Bronx . . .)
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.