Ye olde

Ye Olde is a stock prefix, used often anachronistically in the case of theme pubs, to indicate things of mediaeval extraction, things which are English, or, as in popular caricature (especially in the United States) the two are synonymous, both indicating, perhaps, a Deep England, half-timbered feel. The construction Ye Olde English Pubbe is the usual example, a standard bar name akin to The Red Lion.

The use of the term "Ye" to represent a pseudo-Early Modern English form of the word "the" is, in fact, incorrect. This mistaken attribution is due to the mediaeval usage of the letter thorn (þ) to represent "th" - a letter which is today only in common use in Icelandic. The word "The" was thus written Þe, which in mediaeval script looked very similar to the letters "ye".

See Also

• Olde English District
• Merry England
• England, England