Why some people think it's "the Ukraine".

[raccoon]

Remember, how in “Back in the USSR” Sir Paul sang, “the Ukraine girls really knock me out“?

So, Sir Paul wasn’t saying “the Ukraine”, he was saying “the Ukraine girls”. I think a lot of people got confused about that.

(I thought about posting this in the lounge but sometimes I have posted stuff like this there and it got removed.)

[Buns_of_Fire]

1. Back when I was a sprout, it *was* "the Ukraine" -- as in

"the Ukraine region of the USSR". (This was back when there was a "USSR", too.)

Now, they're their own sovereign nation, and I'm sure they bristle at any suggestion that they're anyone else's "region".

It'll take some time to adjust. Like spelling Kyiv as "Kyiv" instead of "Kiev".

[Haggard Celine]

2. I grew up thinking it was The Ukraine.

Used to hear it on the news a lot. I don't think anyone back then said "Ukraine," and I've wondered why it changed. Maybe it's because it was more or less part of Russia before, so the article was added like we do in other countries, such as "the Midwest" or "the Appalachians."

[EYESORE 9001]

3. Don't blame Beatles

Ukraine picked up definitive article sometime in the 20th century, but ‘the’ predated Beatles. Ukrainian people don’t like it, so I don’t use it.

[Patton French]

4. It's a pre-independence thing

And pre-Beatles.

[bucolic_frolic]

5. It was the Ukraine in WWII newsreels from British Pathe

People heard it, other journalists and news organizations ran with it. It was part of Russia, the U.S.S.R. Like we would say the mid-Atlantic, the midwest, the gulf states.

[Maeve]

6. It was "The Ukraine" in the news in 1991 when they were voting to leave Russia

Saw the chryon on the news report from NBC shown on Rachel's show the other night--Kiev, the Ukraine

After independence, there was a push to drop the Russian/Soviet "the"