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Comment by AnimalMuppet | Hacker News Reader

Digression: Why do people out there make such a big deal about "The Ohio State University"? Is it just pretentiousness? Is it that "there's only one state university in Ohio, and we're it"? (Which seems like an odd point of pride.) Or what?

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It’s just for fun and marketing basically. It’s used sarcastically or emphatically with friends but still in a joking spirit. Like someone might say let’s go grab a burger from Northstar and someone will jokingly say “you mean THE Northstar?” And it’s just silly humor.

It's the official name of the university, whereas most would just be "X State University", OSU happens to have "The" in its official name, that's all:

https://library.osu.edu/archives/faq#1

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However, the "The" was actually part of the state legislation when the university was renamed in 1878. The following excerpt is from the Board of Trustee minutes:

"...the educational institution heretofore known as the 'Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College,' shall be known and designated hereafter as 'The Ohio State University.'"

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There _is_ an Ohio University that can cause confusion, even for Ohio natives. The reasons for the definite article though stem from its legal history and has mostly just become a way Ohioans signify as being "in the know". Anyone unironically taking offense probably takes offense at the idea OSU's reputation doesn't extend much further out the Midwest (speaking as an Ohioan).

Read it as like underdog state pride, in the sense of "the one and only" https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/the%20one%20and%2.... It's certainly not the only state university - Ohio University is only about an hour away.

I have no idea, but you'll get corrected right fast if you forget to include the "The".

It's silly that's all I know

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