Why in Los Angeles do people refer to Highways as "The 5" or "The 101"?? They don't refer to it as

Question

I-5 or interstate 5, it's always, The 5. Why do So-Calers do this? I don't get it.

Answer 1

I don't know why we say it that way, that's how I've just always heard it here in So Cal. I generally refer to the roads as you say, "the 101" or "the 405." That's just what everyone calls them. My friends from Nor Cal don't even bother to include "the" when mentioning the names of highways. They just called it "101" or "5." I thought it was really strange how they left out "the," I remember having funny discussions with my roommates about our weird NorCal vs. SoCal words and ways of saying things. I never could get used to that horrible habbit many of them had of saying "hella" all the time. I hate that word. I suppose it's just a colloquialism. How do people identify the highways in other states? Do they speak of them in more formal terms? I'm very curious.

Answer 2

Same reason they call Los Angeles "LA", and the Sunset Strip "the Strip".Like fame, everything in So.CA. goes by REAL fast. A "relationship" just like a marriage, may last (with luck) an entire weekend, you can get a burger real quick at "In and Out Burger",Garden Grove is the home of the original drive in church, and the average California woman's shelf life is (again with luck) about age 32.

Answer 3

Because it is the laid back, cool "way", this makes me smile and reminisce about my California days....

Answer 4

What do you want from people who can not pronounce Rodeo?? They think it's easy and cool.

Answer 5

It is quicker.