Adding words?

[ivnj]

I thought of a new idea. But all good names are taken. Assuming I have to go with .com.

Is adding words ruining the name. Or still better than a dash.

Like for example

thenewsite.com

or

new-site.com

I see a lot of sites adding "the" to the front of the domain name because the one they want is taken. I hate dashes. Is adding "the" a good practice. Or just as bad as a dash.

I have to options that's why I ask. Either add a dash or add "the" first. And I don't want to settle for .org or .info so I'd like .com.

 

[h2o]

The is better imho. You can pronounce "the." you can't pronounce "dash" Well, you can but it just sounds so bad. The other day on local radio it was just so painful hearing the announcer say www. (keyword) dash (keyword) dot com. They should have settled for the cheap looking but almost as effective .biz :P