What do you know today, that you did not yesterday?

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mr d Apr 2021 11:47am, 25 Apr 2021 4,792 posts	0 mr d [Not sure on the origins of 'the Ukraine', I think it's a pre Soviet Russian when they and the Polish ruled Ukraine.] "According to several authoritative sources, such as the CIA World Factbook, the Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World and the US Department of State, only two countries, The Bahamas and The Gambia, should officially be referred to with the article."
JK chameleon Apr 2021 2:40pm, 25 Apr 2021 14,060 posts	0 JK chameleon I know Wikipedia is hardly a reliable source, but... en.m.wikipedia.org
mr d Apr 2021 10:45pm, 25 Apr 2021 4,793 posts	0 mr d [Linked in wikipedia, businessinsider.com Realised my comment was based on the sleeve notes of the Wedding Presents Ukrainian John Peel sessions from the late 80s. Possibly not that reliable either.]
Dvorak Apr 2021 11:35pm, 25 Apr 2021 22,316 posts	0 Dvorak [Kingdom of The Netherlands]
DeeGee Apr 2021 8:33am, 26 Apr 2021 20,587 posts	0 DeeGee [It's a problem, because although, legally, only Bahamas and Gambia take the article, linguistically there are many country names which require them in many situations. I'm happy with "King Karl Gustav of Sweden" and "Prince Albert of Monaco", but "King Willem-Alexander of Netherlands", "President Biden of United States of America" or "President Panuelo of Federated States of Micronesia" just sound wrong. And as for "King Philippe of the Belgians", that's a totally different matter. Their family changed its name, like ours, from something German in WW1. Where ours chose to call themselves after their house, the King of Belgium decided to change his name to the people over which he ruled. Rather more pertinently, I think, given the nature of his country during that period of history.]
larkim Apr 2021 9:01am, 26 Apr 2021 14,119 posts	0 larkim [Bob Carolgees of Spit the Dog/Tiswas/"Surprise Surprise" fame retired from showbusiness to run a candle shop.] True, that. About 1500m from where I live.
DeeGee Apr 2021 9:17am, 26 Apr 2021 20,588 posts	0 DeeGee [Does he still hang about the place?]
larkim Apr 2021 4:33pm, 26 Apr 2021 14,128 posts	0 larkim [Don't think so now, I think he retired from there a few years ago. I have to say though, my candle shopping days are long since passed. We've still got Daniel Craig and Gary Barlow to trade off as a town anyway, so who needs Spit the Dog anyway]
Cerrertonia Apr 2021 8:16pm, 26 Apr 2021 13,940 posts	0 Cerrertonia [My two youngest sisters used to walk home from school past Gary Barlow's mum's house and gleefully report how many girls were hanging about outside hoping for a glimpse.]
GlennR Apr 2021 10:21pm, 26 Apr 2021 56,794 posts	0 GlennR ~coughs politely~ There is no definite article in either Russian or Ukrainian. It’s simply Ukraine.