Possibly influenced by the use of the particle 的, de in the Mandarin phrases 非常的, fēi cháng de ("extremely; very") or 真的, zhēn de ("really"), which is a near-homophone of English the. See also abit the.
Always precedes an adjective, rather than a noun (unlike how the definite article the is used in English). Unlike damn, it is usually only used sarcastically or to describe a negative trait. More direct than abit the, though they may be used in the same way.