Grammar Question (and Annoyance, Yes)

[zannes]

When did "the" become a legitimate way to alphabetize something? I was taught that you ignore "the" and alphabetize by the next word, otherwise you end up with a ridiculous sub list and twice as much work sorting. So "The Sentinel" would be categorized under "Sentinel, The" and "The Adventures of Pete and Pete" would be "Adventures of Pete and Pete

Comments

[glendaglamazon]

I'm pretty sure it's the fault of computers that don't know to ignore the "The" and users who don't re-order the words accordingly ("Sentinel, The"). It is infuriating, but that quote thing is just plain wrong.

[zannes]

Why have computer programmers not fixed this travesty of alphabetization?! It makes it so much more difficult to sort through lists when it happens.

Thank you for the agreement about the quote thing. Almost every Big Bang I read one year (last year or the year before, I think) had the quotations done that way. That means at least two people (the writer and the beta) looked at it and thought it was done correctly before posting it. O.o It boggles the mind.

[kasman]

Yup, and yup, and damned annoying...