Pete, you might be the right one to axe about this... question of the decade:
Why does the ARRL refer to themselves in writing and speech as "A.R.R.L." ? Why not "THE A.R.R.L." like everyone else ??
It's "The Autobahn Society" , "The Humane Society" "The United Way" "The I.R.S." etc.
The words American, Radio, Relay are modifiers and can be dropped leaving "League"
It's proper to say "I drove to "The League" - not I drove to "League."
What would Hiram say?
T
You need to get on the air more
Definition of "the" and how it's used:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/theAmerican Radio Relay League is used collectively as a proper name (noun). The "the" is used to mark the proper noun.
The "Autobahn Society" doesn't called itself "The Autobahn Society". Actually it's really called "National Audubon Society"(proper noun). The "the" is used to again mark the proper noun. However, some organizations choose to use the "the" in their organizational title as "The Humane Society of the United States".
The "United Way" and the "IRS"(no periods) don't use "the" in their proper name.
Hiram probably doesn't care.