I’ve had a bit of a weird sleep schedule since getting back from Shanghai (I slept from 4PM to 2AM last night), and unfortunately my weird sleep schedule came with some pretty weird dreams.
My first dream was actually totally awesome. I was flying from Tampa to Miami on American, and there was an aircraft substitution… to a Lufthansa Airbus 380! Due to the aircraft substitution Lufthansa built a temporary First Class Terminal in Tampa, and I was driven to the plane in a Porsche Cayenne. As it turned out they forgot to cater the caviar for the first class cabin, so the purser proactively offered me two American systemwide upgrades as compensation. Boy, my dreams are vivid.
And then there was my second dream, and I just can’t help myself with bringing this one up. In my dream I was at a 7-11 and happened to start talking to someone about Le Meridien hotels. I had mentioned I stayed at the Le Meridien in Vienna, and he nearly had a heart attack at my use of “the” given that “le” is the French equivalent of “the.” Now, my use of “the” and “Le Meridien” in the same sentence is something many blog readers have called me out on, and as a result I’ve dropped “the,” and just said “Le Meridien.”
That being said, I’m still not convinced that’s correct. Grammar is my weak point, so please accept my apologies in advance if I’m making a fool of myself. But “Le Meridien” is a proper noun (nobody would say “oh, I’m staying at The Meridien tonight”), so is it really wrong to say I’m staying at the Le Meridien tonight? Last I checked, mixing languages in the same sentence is a big no-no, so I’m not sure why it would be wrong to say “the Le Meridien.” I’d argue either way is fine depending on context, though is it really wrong to use “the” in front of “Le Meridien?”
Grammar experts, liberate me, please!
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