While I've lived in Rochester for 8 years now, there's still one little quirk I've noticed that seems common here in southeast Minnesota.

It's how we always add an extra 'the' at the beginning of names of various places here in the Med City. For instance, you might hear someone say, "John has an appointment Thursday at the Mayo Clinic."

But what's up with extra 'the' in front of Mayo Clinic? Shouldn't it just be, "John has an appointment Thursday at Mayo Clinic."?

I mean, you wouldn't say, "I'm going to the Twins Home Opener at THE Target Field!" would you? No, you'd say, "I'm going to the Twins Home Opener at Target Field!" right?

I also hear the extra 'the' in reference to other places around Rochester, too. Like this: "The Lynx played an exhibition a few years ago at the Mayo Civic Center."  Again, shouldn't it just be, "The Lynx played an exhibition game a few years ago at Mayo Civic Center"?

What's with the extra 'the', Rochester?

To repeat, we wouldn't say, "I'm going to go shopping at THE Trader Joe's!" (Unless, of course, you're referring to a particular location, then the 'the' is needed: "It's the Trader Joe's on 16th Street.") But, once again, you also wouldn't say, "I'm going to see Kenny Chesney this May at THE U.S. Bank Stadium!"

It's certainly not a big deal, but have you noticed this too? (Perhaps all this means is that the Curt St. John needs a hobby...)

Listen to Curt St. John mornings from 6 to 10 a.m. on Quick Country 96.5
and afternoons from 2 to 6 p.m. on 103.9 The Doc

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