The article 'the' is used when talking about monuments, the White House, the Houses of Parliament, so why is it not used when speaking about Big Ben in London?
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2Oh but it is. "The Clock Tower of the Palace of Westminster — officially named Saint Stephen's Tower — is commonly known as the Big Ben."– RegDwigнtCommented Oct 8, 2018 at 14:32
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1Welcome to EL&U. I believe you will find the answer in Use of definite article before phrases like Heathrow Airport, Hyde Park, Waterloo Station, Edgware Road and Parliament Square; also see e.g. Definite article with proper nouns, titles followed by a common noun, Definite article before schools, colleges, and universities, or Use of the article “the” with proper nouns.– chosterCommented Oct 8, 2018 at 14:47
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"The article 'the' is used when talking about monuments", I don't think so. How about "I'm going to visit the Palace of Westminster" vs "I'm going to visit Westminster Palace."– ZebrafishCommented Oct 9, 2018 at 4:40
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@RegDwigнt I'd be surprised if the author of that web page is British (unless it's a typo). I've lived all my life in the UK and never heard either the tower or the bell referred to as the Big Ben. The website is also out of date, the tower was officially renamed The Elizabeth Tower in 2012, although it's still called Big Ben (without the definite article) informally.– BoldBenCommented Oct 9, 2018 at 4:43
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@BoldBen so. All of that makes you take my comment seriously, how? Man, I swear. Those Brits and their complete lack of any sense of humour. I should have added a smiley or five just for them. My bad. Won't happen again.– RegDwigнtCommented Oct 9, 2018 at 14:40
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1 Answer
The difference is in anthropomorphization. Big Ben used to be the name of the huge bell atop St. Stephen's tower, but eventually became the proper name of the whole structure. We only rarely talk about 'the Ted' or 'the Marsha'. Instead, we use the definite article 'the' to convey 'properness' to something that might be otherwise be difficult to distinguish. See: 'the White House' vs. 'a White House'. Big Ben doesn't need that treatment to distinguish itself.
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1Big Ben has never been the official name of the tower, just the most commonly used one. It used to be called The Clock Tower of the Houses of Parliament until 2012 until it was renamed The Elizabeth Tower in honour of Queen Elizabeth the second. Apparently Victorian journalists called it St Stephen's Tower but this was never official either. Follow this link and scroll down to Is it called St Stephen's Tower, the Clock Tower or the Elizabeth Tower?. This site is as official as it gets!– BoldBenCommented Oct 9, 2018 at 4:54