# "The" Ohio State University **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 21, 2005, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ohio-state-university/322724 "2005-09-21T15:59:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ohio-state-university/322724/1 "2005-09-21T15:59:02Z")
OSU always capitalizes the “The” before its name. Damned pretentious, methinks. And you? Any other examples of this out there in Doperland? ---
**Author:** ![Scribble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scribble/32/3317_2.png) [@Scribble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scribble)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ohio-state-university/322724/2 "2005-09-21T16:05:38Z")
I think it’s pretentious too, especially since there are tons of other state universities in Ohio. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ohio-state-university/322724/3 "2005-09-21T16:07:48Z")
It’s pretentious enough, but it becomes more annoying when athletes and alumni insist upon saying “THE! Ohio State University.” As if we’d think they just went to “A Ohio State Univesity” and didn’t want to specify. ---
**Author:** ![Scribble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scribble/32/3317_2.png) [@Scribble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scribble)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ohio-state-university/322724/4 "2005-09-21T16:21:59Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > It’s pretentious enough, but it becomes more annoying when athletes and alumni insist upon saying “THE! Ohio State University.” As if we’d think they just went to “A Ohio State Univesity” and didn’t want to specify. Well, really, the “the” is the least of the university’s problems and shortcomings. I suspect that some of the people who really insist on the “the” feel that they need whatever they can get to prop up their own flagging pride in the institution. ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ohio-state-university/322724/5 "2005-09-21T17:39:40Z")
> [@Scribble](#): > > I think it’s pretentious too, especially since there are tons of other state universities in Ohio. That’s exactly why they do it. I’ve always considered it silly. I never write it that way on my resume. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ohio-state-university/322724/6 "2005-09-21T17:58:29Z")
The official name of the school is “The Ohio State University” and people refer to it as such. As to why that is I have a hazy recollection of it having to do something with Ohio University. Originally OSU was Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College but it changed its name to The Ohio State University a short time later. When they changed the name I think they wanted something that would establish OSU as the eminent public university in Ohio and as a sort of a slap to Ohio University. In other words OSU wasn’t just another public college in Ohio it was to be _The_ public university in Ohio. If you ask this Buckeye I like it. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ohio-state-university/322724/7 "2005-09-21T18:02:35Z")
[Here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=275486)’s a longish thread we did on this about a year ago. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ohio-state-university/322724/8 "2005-09-21T18:02:38Z")
I forgot to add that there are other colleges that do this but becuase of OSU football it is the most widely known. I can’t think of any off of the top of my head but I remember when I was taking the ACT there were a half dozen to a dozen universities listed under The. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ohio-state-university/322724/9 "2005-09-21T19:06:08Z")
I had a related experience, but not because of arrogance on the part of the college. I went to “Columbia Community College”. They referred to themselves as “Columbia College” for the sake of brevity. When I went to UC Davis, which is only a few hours away, people would ask where I transferred from. Where I came from, you casually referred to the school as “Columbia”. So when I said this I was always met with 1 of 2 reactions: 1. Awed stare 2. “So, how did you like New York?” Each of these resulted in me sighing and responding: “No, not that one.” ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ohio-state-university/322724/10 "2005-09-21T21:00:18Z")
U. Va. used to have a two-line car window decal that said: Virginia The University (Properly centered, of course.) As distinct, I guess, from “Virginia, A University,” or “Virginia, the Commonwealth,” or “Virginia, the Girl’s Name that Hardly Anybody Uses Anymore.” ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ohio-state-university/322724/11 "2005-09-21T23:55:10Z")
> [@treis](#): > > I forgot to add that there are other colleges that do this but becuase of OSU football it is the most widely known. I can’t think of any off of the top of my head but I remember when I was taking the ACT there were a half dozen to a dozen universities listed under The. Was one of them [The College of William & Mary](http://www.wm.edu/)? If you wanted to pen an Encyclopedia Brown-type mystery, you could have the crook give himself away by writing something that said he had attended “William **and** Mary”. That ampersand is crucial… ---
**Author:** ![Go\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ce73a5/32.png) [@Go\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_Blue)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2005, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ohio-state-university/322724/12 "2005-09-22T00:34:42Z")
> [@](#): > > OSU always capitalizes the “The” before its name. Damned pretentious, methinks. And you? OSU should call itself “_The_ 2nd Best Football Team in the Big Ten” or “_The_ Wolverines’ Bitches”. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2005, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ohio-state-university/322724/13 "2005-09-22T01:02:08Z")
I think I mentioned this in the earlier thread, but I think it’s just a quaint usage that used to be much more common. When the full name was being used, school names did use to include the The, so it was “The Los Angeles High School” rather than just “Los Angeles High School”. ---
**Author:** ![gardentraveler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gardentraveler/32/3576_2.png) [@gardentraveler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gardentraveler)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2005, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ohio-state-university/322724/14 "2005-09-22T01:51:59Z")
This kind of bugged me when I first moved to Columbus 20+ years ago, but it eventually became just another part of the landscape. Seems like the only time “the” is used consistently is in those annoying ads they run during sports broadcasts. Everywhere else, it’s either someone being pretentious or someone making fun. GT ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2005, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ohio-state-university/322724/15 "2005-09-22T02:05:48Z")
> [@Go Blue](#): > > OSU should call itself “_The_ 2nd Best Football Team in the Big Ten” or “_The_ Wolverines’ Bitches”. Don’t count your chickens. Who was it that manhandled Notre Dame and who got beat by Notre Dame? OSU should call itself “Just Another Ohio State University” ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2005, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ohio-state-university/322724/16 "2005-09-22T03:01:02Z")
> [@Go Blue](#): > > OSU should call itself “_The_ 2nd Best Football Team in the Big Ten” or “_The_ Wolverines’ Bitches”. Ann Arbor: North 'til you smell it, west 'til you step in it. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2005, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ohio-state-university/322724/17 "2005-09-22T03:11:44Z")
> [@Go Blue](#): > > OSU should call itself “_The_ 2nd Best Football Team in the Big Ten” or “_The_ Wolverines’ Bitches”. See what us Buckeyes have to deal with? No class Michigan fans that take every oppurtunity to reassure themselves that they are the best team in the Big 10. Its sad really. ---
**Author:** ![Go\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ce73a5/32.png) [@Go\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_Blue)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2005, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ohio-state-university/322724/18 "2005-09-22T03:12:32Z")
> [@](#): > > Ann Arbor: North 'til you smell it, west 'til you step in it. What are you smelling? Our better sports teams? Our better medical school? Our better law school? Our better dental school? Or do you just smell a better university? And at least you step into our school. You fall into OSU by hitting the bottom of the SAT. ---
**Author:** ![Go\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ce73a5/32.png) [@Go\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_Blue)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2005, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ohio-state-university/322724/19 "2005-09-22T03:18:55Z")
What is the football record between Michigan and OSU again? Come on, you know it. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2005, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ohio-state-university/322724/20 "2005-09-22T03:37:35Z")
According to [this web site](http://www.umich.edu/~bhl/bhl/exhibits/umosu/results.htm), it’s 57 – 38 – 6 But that’s OK. Neither has won back to back Rose Bowls. 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ohio-state-university/322724.md?page=2)