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I'm designing a pompous and pretentious poster for the way we work in our company. Let's call the company "Initech" for this discussion.

I used the zero article, omitting "the", in the slogan "The Sacred Principles of Initech Way". My intention was to make a parallel between "Initech Way" and great traditions like Zen and Kendo. In this vein, "Initech Way" would connote "The Path of Initech", instead of "The way we work at Initech". I think this is similar to "Do" in Japanese martial arts, for example, kendo meaning "The way of the sword". So, "Initech Way" could be thought as "Initech-do" in my intended meaning.

Is using zero article in "The Sacred Principles of Initech Way" grammatically correct? If it can be seen as correct, does it still sound like an unintentional mistake?

Toni Vanhala
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    It does sound off, it sounds like a literal translation of a saying in a foreign language. It's also not helped by "Initech Way" sounding like a street name. – KillingTime Feb 04 '20 at 07:42
  • To me it only sounds like a street name. But look, if you want pompous, include the definite article. That actually makes it more pompous. // If you want to have fun with language, then make initech a verb, and use it as a verb in a bunch of sentences. – aparente001 Feb 04 '20 at 07:53
  • If you're going to drop the "the" from "the Initech Way", maybe also drop the "the" from "the Sacred Principles"? Not for grammatical reasons but as a matter of style? (Either way I concur with the others that it sounds like a street name.) – nnnnnn Feb 04 '20 at 09:42
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    Initech Way does indeed sound like a street name, surely you want The Way of Initech, much more mysterious, also rather pompous and pretentious. – High Performance Mark Feb 04 '20 at 10:31
  • Kendo could be the greatest tradition of them all, yet even so it would have to be "the sacred principle of the Kendo way" or "the sacred principle of Kendo", but never a combination of the two. "The sacred principle of Kendo way" just isn't English. – RegDwigнt Feb 04 '20 at 17:02

2 Answers2

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As others have said, the zero article makes it wound like a place . "We are here on Intech Way".

With the definite article, it gives the sense that you want, something more encompassing than "the way we do things." AS an example, I give you (long lost :( )

The Oriole Way

The seeds of long-term success were planted on September 14, 1954, when the Orioles hired Paul Richards to become the ballclub's manager and general manager. He laid the foundation for what would years later be called the Oriole Way. The instruction of baseball fundamentals became uniform in every detail between all classes within the organization. Players were patiently refined until fundamentally sound instead of being hastily advanced to the next level.

Damila
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"Way" is a common term for a street or avenue, used in the naming of the same. "Street", "Avenue", "Road", "Drive", "Boulevard", "Lane", "Parkway", and "Way" are a few of the terms used. I spent much of my childhood in a house on "Cardwell Way".

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