[bombcar]

We say "The La Brea Tar Pits" without a second thought.

[NobodyNada]

But the “The” applies to “tar pits”, not “La Brea”, as in “The Panama Canal” or “The Seattle Seahawks”.

[ectopod]

It translates as "The The Tar Tar Pits".

[NobodyNada]

Ah, yeah that makes sense. I just assumed La Brea was a nearby city or area; I didn’t know it translated to “tar”.

[bombcar]

I think you may be on to something however - but we do still say “I’m going to drive the El Camino down to the El Camino Real.”

[kej]

This is one of my favorite Wikipedia articles: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tautological_place_nam...