"George Patterson" wrote in message
...
But you would never say "the Appalachian ranges." For the same reason, you
should never say "the Sierras" when you're talking about the Sierra
Nevada.

If we were speaking Spanish, and we were speaking only of some generic
"sierra", that would be correct. However, you cannot apply the original
rules to words borrowed from other languages and expect them to still make
sense in English (in this case...this isn't particular to English),
especially when the borrowed word becomes a proper noun. A borrowed word,
in the language that borrowed it, inherets brand new rules, completely
independent of the original language from whence it came.

I have about as many language pet peeves as anyone, but IMHO this is one
that the owner's of said pet peeve just need to get over already.

Pete