The UK Government's Road Minister has waged war on Oxford's ...

[GoldfishLord]

The UK Government's Road Minister has waged war on Oxford's dangerous junctions by promising to make them "better and safer".

Source: https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/23440436.roads-minister-wages-war-oxfords-dangerous-junctions/

The war on sharks has been waged with shock and awe at times. When a shark bit or killed a swimmer, people within the past century might take out hundreds of the marine predators to quell the panic, like executing everyone in a police lineup in order to ensure justice was dispensed on the guilty party.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/01/science/problem-sharks-biteprinting.html

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What's the reason there is "the" just before "war on sharks" even though there is no "the" just before "war on Oxford's dangerous junctions"?

 

[jutfrank]

I'm not sure I understand what you're asking.

It's the normal reason for using 'the', which is to make specific reference to the noun phrase that follows.

 

[GoldfishLord]

"The" is inserted before "war on sharks".
What's the reason "the" is not inserted before "war on Oxford's dangerous junctions"?

 

[SoothingDave]

Because we "wage war." "War" is the direct object of the verb "wage."

 

[Tarheel]

It seems that people have become queasy about using the word "kill" so they say "take out". The same thing happened, but it's described differently. Those sharks are still dead, however.

 

[GoldfishLord]

What's the reason 'the UK Government's Road Minister has waged the war on Oxford's dangerous junctions by promising to make them "better and safer".' is incorrect.

 

[Tarheel]

@GoldfishLord Well, the punctuation could be better. That's for sure!

Is the grammar problematic? Well, the phrasing is a bit odd. After all, when you wage war on something it's not usually with the idea of improving it.

 

[SoothingDave]

As I said, we "wage war." Consider it a set usage. A common phrase. We wage war on something.

Also, the war on Oxford's intersections has not been defined yet. So, we can't use the definite article.

After it has been introduced (with the original sentence), then there could be references to "waging the war." Because "the war" would now have a definition. You wouldn't have to repeat "on Oxford's dangerous..."

 

[jutfrank]

Another answer would be that in the phrase 'wage war', the word 'war' is non-specific, referring to warfare in a general sense. That's why no definite article is used. In 'the war on sharks', we're talking a bout a specific war, not warfare in general.