In our newsroom, emotions run high with the word "the"

The style rule in our newsroom that generates the most conflict has nothing to do with gender, race, sexual orientation, age, crimes or obscene language. Instead, it's our rule governing the word "the."

On its surface, the rule seems quite simple: To avoid having to spend inordinate amounts of time trying to figure out whether the word "the" is capitalized in the name of a business, a band or some other entity, we just always lowercase. In addition to saving time, it's egalitarian, and easy to remember and understand. Well ... in theory, anyway.

This rule never ceases to generate questions, arguments, confusion and anger. The same questions have been asked and debated repeatedly throughout the years, at various levels of passion. Here's a Q&A to recap and, hopefully, better explain our philosophy about this controversial three-letter word.

QUESTION: I hate that rule!

ANSWER: That's not really a question.

Q: Why do we have such a stupid rule?

A: Because it's often difficult, and sometimes impossible, to figure out whether an entity has a capitalized "the" in its official name, and we don't have the time or resources for those investigations. So, to make things as efficient as we possibly can, and to ensure that all entities receive equal treatment, we opt to lowercase in all but a few specific cases.

Q: Yeah, but I know for a fact -- for a FACT! -- that this doughnut shop has a capital "the" in its name. So why can't I capitalize it?

A: Because if you did that, the rule would cease to exist. Again, there are two principles behind the rule: 1) we need to avoid the time and hassle of trying to verify whether every "the" should be capitalized, and 2) we need to ensure that all businesses and other entities are treated consistently and fairly. The rule is built solely on those two principles, and you would be violating them both if you opted to capitalize a random "the," whatever your reasoning was.

Q: Yeah, but seriously, look: I have a napkin AND a cup from the doughnut shop. The "the" is capitalized!

A: You didn't need to bring in the napkin to prove that. We believe you. You are missing the point.

Q: There's this cool nightclub in Scottsdale, and "the" is such an integral part of the name -- we have to make an exception in this case.

A: Coolness is not a factor. The nightclub doesn't need its "the" capitalized any more than the doughnut shop does. Neither is more essential than the other.

Q: What about Home Depot? That's so famous. Aren't we going to look stupid with a lowercase "the" in front of "Home Depot"?

A: Readers never hesitate to point out things they say make us look stupid -- but to the best of my knowledge, this has yet to come up. Fame and notoriety have no impact on the rule. Adding a subjectivity element to application of the rule would render the rule meaningless.

Q. But doesn't it sound stupid to say, "John Lennon was a member of Beatles"?

A: Yes, that would sound very stupid. And this is a common misconception. The rule doesn't say "the" should be deleted -- only that it should be lowercase. So you should say, "John Lennon was a member of the Beatles."

Q: But what about guys like The Rock, and The Edge and The Notorious B.I.G.? Isn't "the" part of their name?

A: No more so than "the" is part of the Beatles' name. You should still include the word, but lowercase it: the Rock, the Edge and the Notorious B.I.G.

Q. I'm confused now. So should a tagline just say "Washington Post contributed to this article"?

A: No. For the same reason we don't shorten "the Beatles" down to just "Beatles," we also don't drop the word "the" before newspaper names -- we just lowercase it. So in this case, the tagline would be properly written as: "The Washington Post contributed to this article." (The "the" is capitalized, but only because it's the start of a sentence.)

Q. Wait a second. So would I call it "the Wizard of Oz"?

A: You'd lowercase that "the" only if you were referring to the actual wizard himself. Otherwise, if referring to the book or movie, you're dealing with a composition title. Names and titles are two different things. Composition titles refer to movies, TV shows, books, plays, song titles, poems, etc. A composition title simply is what it is. The book or the movie would be capped: "The Wizard of Oz."

Q. OK, I think I get it. But didn't you say something about a few exceptions?

A: Yes. The main one is the name of our newspaper. We always capitalize "the" when referring to The Arizona Republic. On second reference, we make it The Republic. But we lowercase "the" when referring to any of our community editions.

The other exceptions are The Hague, Netherlands, and The Dalles, Ore., both in datelines and in body copy. Oh yeah, one more: the band called the The.