Thursday, August 20, 2009

a historic/an historic

This one generates quite a bit of debate. Here's how it shakes out.

The general school of thought here is that "an" is used before a word that begins with a silent "h," as in "an honorable man." See? The "h" is silent.

You are to use "a" before words where the letter "h" is pronounced. I don't want to get into a whole linguistics thing with you people here, so just know that if you are referring to "a high ceiling," use "a."

I guess some snobby individual years ago thought that saying "an historic event" sounded highly educated, and lots of people agreed. The funny thing is that it's the exact opposite.

From now on, please make "an honest effort" to use it correctly, and if everybody does it, it truly will be "a historic event," don't you think?

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