system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why do older people put "the" in front of things all the time?

What I mean by this is how a lot of older people who usually don't understand something or don't want to understand something will put the word "the" in front of words that don't normally have it in there. Phrases like:

"Are you reading the Harry Potter?"
"Look for that on the Google."
etc.

Is it a cultural thing? Is that just how a lot of people talked when they were young? Is dropping the "the" a more modern thing to do?
gpt
For a certain generation of older people, many of the new inventions or fads from their youth had a "the" in front of them.  "the radio," "the TV," "the Lindy," etc . . .  This wasn't true of all things then, of course (a new book wouldn't necessarily be "the Great Gatsby," it could be "Revolt in the Desert") and it's not true of no things now ("the internet" springs to mind). 

But, because of that historical accident, there was a tendency for people who were grandparent-age in the 90s to assume that new things that they didn't fully understand should have a definite article.  If you don't know what Pokemon are, beyond that your grandkids like them, it might make sense to assume it's more like radio (kids today love playing "the Pokemon") than like a radio station (Kids today love listening to 92.7).

However, as that generation passes, it's just becoming an affectation of slightly older people, a way of deliberately sounding old either as a joke or as a way to express to your audience that you don't fully understand what you're referencing.