the Euston Road

[joham]

They'd got this house just north of the Euston Road.


In this sentence, is 'the Euston Road' the proper name of that road or the road that leads to Euston? And what about 'the Euston road?

 

[MikeNewYork]

Normally, I would expect it to be called "Euston Road" without "the". But these things change in certain areas. It could be named after a person or a town/city/village.

 

[emsr2d2]

"Euston Road" is the actual name of the street in London. However, for reasons I truly don't know, some roads seem to be prefaced by "the" in London vernacular.

"I'm off down the Old Kent Road" - the name of the street is simply "Old Kent Road" but many people preface it with "the". Perhaps once upon a time it was the original "Kent Road", then a second one was built (there is no New Kent Road, though) and people started referring to it as "the old Kent Road" and gradually the "old" became part of the name. I have nothing to back up that theory!

My grandparents used to live in north-west London and would frequently refer to going shopping "down the Edgware Road". In reality, it is simply called "Edgware Road" so, again, I can find no reason for it but it does happen.

 

[Roman55]

(there is no New Kent Road, though)

I am not a teacher.

Actually, there is a New Kent Road and it leads into Old Kent Road at the junction with Tower Bridge Road. Not far from my old stomping ground.

 

[emsr2d2]

Ah, perhaps I should have consulted Google Maps first! Who knows? Maybe my theory is correct then. It doesn't explain the use of the article before Euston Road or Edgware Road though.

 

[Roman55]

I am not a teacher.

The funny thing is that this phenomenon is restricted to roads called XXX Road and never in the case of XXX Street. You would say "the high street" but if it has a name I can't think of an example where the article is used. The shop is on Oxford Street, Bond Street, Regent Street or maybe on Picadilly, but definitely not on the Marylebone Road.

 

[Raymott]

I don't think it's strange at all. Streets are short, and roads are long. OK, that's a generalisation. But the Edgware road is the road leading to Edgware, isn't it? Streets aren't going to take you to a new village or location. I note that highways are always called "The X Highway" or "the M1". That's a spontaneous hypothesis too, and probably has many exceptions.

 

[emsr2d2]

Just as I was reading your post, I was thinking exactly that. In my town, there is a London Road which, of course (once upon a time) went all the way to London. That got me thinking about Edgware Road, Old Kent Road and Euston Road and I think you're right. Presumably, they were simply "the road to London", "the road to Edgware" etc and would have been referred to as "the London road", "the Euston road" which became, over time "London Road", "Euston Road".
I've certainly never heard the article used before XXX Street or XXX Avenue etc. Although we have plenty of "Roads" which don't lead to a different town, we don't tend to name the roads which do "XXX Street/Avenue/Drive/Drove".

 

[MikeNewYork]

On the south side of Chicago, in the suburbs, some east-west streets are major arteries and they go to and through many villages (suburbs): 127th Street, 142nd Street, 159th Street, 183rd street, etc.

 

[Tdol]

People also say the King's Road, which probably doesn't lead to a place, but may have belonged historically to the king.