Talk:Integral Article

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This page is meant as a replacement for Definite Article, which has a list including many names that have nothing to do with the The Cheat Rule. (See Talk:Definite Article for my full catalog of complaints about that page.) You are encouraged to add any names that explicitly follow the Rule, and to add notes about the consistency (e.g., if you spot a case where the Rule is broken). But before you do, please run the sentence through some tests.

Use of an article (definite or indefinite) in any of the following contexts where an article is grammatically incorrect confirms that the The Cheat Rule is being applied:

• When someone or something is being addressed directly by name (i.e., the name is in the vocative case). "High five, The Stick!"
• Following another article. "Out poured...a The Cheat!"
• Following an adjectival or possessive phrase. "The Foul Stench of Wet The Cheat" "My very own The Cheat!"
• Following a number or other quantifier. "500 The Cheats"
• Very tricky: When the name is plural and it clearly refers to a general population, not to a specific group. For example, suppose Strong Bad's epitaph had read, "kicking the Cheats in the hereafter" (and we pretend for now that capitalization doesn't matter). If he meant some squad of four or five Cheats that we had met previously, this would explicitly break the Rule. (To apply the Rule in this situation, he would have had to use something like "kicking those The Cheats".) If he meant "The Cheats" as a species he would generally kick, it would confirm the Rule.

Any other appearance of an article is grammatically acceptable (although I'm sure someone will think of a few cases I didn't), and thus inconclusive as far as the Rule is concerned. Of course, for an instance to break the Rule, the expected article simply has to be omitted when grammar rules require it to be omitted. So "I don't lets the Poopsmith near it" and "They've stolen my Poopsmith" are both grammatically acceptable (at least as far as articles are concerned); as applications of the Rule, the first sentence is inconclusive while the second one breaks it.

And if you think this page was a colossal waste of time, do please mention it here. --TheNicestGuy 16:46, 8 March 2006 (UTC)

My primary objection to this page is the title. I've never heard of this (or anything else) referred to as "The Cheat Rule," and I don't think we should make up arbitrary terminology. If there's some precedent that I'm missing, however, please educate me. — InterruptorJones 17:58, 8 March 2006 (UTC)