Why do people say 'an historic'?
FYI it's 'a historic'.... never, ever ever ever... EVER! 'an historic'.
So why oh why has it become so freaking common?
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Dropping the initial H (which makes "an historic" correct) has been going on for a long time in American English. I don't see anything wrong with it, as long as the speaker is consistent. [edit] Actually, a little research indicates that "historic" (and related words) actually used to be pronounced with a silent h, and it's only a relatively modern event that the h is pronounced. So using "an historic" is somewhat archaic, but still not technically incorrect. [re-edit] I just listened to the McCain sound-bite, and have to say that it never occurred to me that someone might say "an historic" without dropping the h. That is definitely incorrect. Side: dialectical differences
lol, jeez, I didn't know McCain was that old. The minimum length for an argument is 50 characters. The purpose of this restriction is to cut down on the amount of dumb jokes, so we can keep the quality of debate and discourse as high as possible. Side: wrong and needs to be stopped
"an" is only for words that begin with a vowel sound so if the pronunciation were to shift again to historic being pronounced istoric then okay fine. But that is not the language currently, I don't believe there even is an accent that exists which would drop the 'h' so using "an" is just plain wrong. There is a real reason "an" is used instead of "a" that's because a vowel sound followed by a vowel sound is hard to follow in speach "I'm eating a apple" when said fast gets garbled and can be hard to understand. "I'm eating an apple" is easy to understand even if it's a teenager talking (they talk really fast usually) So if one understands the reason "an" is used in place of "a" in some instances, it's really easy to see that "an historic" really makes little sense at all. Side: wrong and needs to be stopped
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I really haven't the slightest. I suppose it probably just evolved over time. As time went on, people just started to say an historic because it was easier for them, I suppose. It just rolls off the tongue easier. So, it's kind of due to laziness, but kind of due to the evolution of the language. I, personally, say a historic. It confuses me when people say an historic. Side: laziness
You're wrong, there is nothing wrong with using "an historic" because the 'a/an' rule is a matter of pronunciation, not spelling. It is used more commonly in British English than American English, but there is nothing wrong with it. And what is this business about McCain starting it?? Side: Correct Speech
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If someone pronounces "historic" as "istoric", as many people do, then it is proper to say "an historic". The only time it's an issue is if the initial h is not dropped, in which case it should be "a historic". Your prescriptivist perspective is simply incorrect in this case. Languages change; get over it. Side: Correct Speech
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I'm fairly certain it's a just a dialectic shift. But "an" as opposed to "a" as opposed to "an" is a part of the English linguistic history. If you look at the word "help" as an example of English diachrony, it use(d) to be: I-helpe Thu-hilpst He/heo-hilpth we-helpath ge-helpath hi-helpath And now we have: I-help You-help He/she-helps We-help You(all)-help They-help There's no right or wrong way. It's just how languages evolve (in the same way that biological organisms evolve). Minor shifts in linguistic practice permeate entire dialects (Appalachian as opposed to Boston) leading ultimately to new languages altogether. Family Guy does a running linguistic-gag with the whole "coo'hwhip" thing that Stewey does to Brian, which I always find fascinating (my minor use to be in linguistics so I get all giddy with linguistics in general). Side: Correct Speech
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It's not a mistake or incorrect (I'm not even sure "incorrect English" makes sense). It's just a variance in language. Linguistic syntax isn't concrete. It changes every time a new word is added to the English lexicon or some new convention like the "quote mark" is introduced. And it isn't geographically universal. Simply put, pPeople have different idiolectical practices and you will find that "an historic" or more generally "an" preceding non-vowel sounding words is used often enough (the mark of a standard linguistic component) to be a part of the standard English syntactical (as opposed to "syntaxical", which is much closer to the English idiom) trend. Side: Correct Speech
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It depends on if the 'h' is pronounced. I don't think I've ever said it, but if I slip into the accent of one of the other languages I speak (Spanish, perhaps), the 'h' can easily go, and then my grammar Nazi takes over and changes 'a' to 'an.' Easy. Side: dialectical differences
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We utilize cast-in concrete for driveways, to which we can apply color and imprint a pattern, based on your preferences. |concrete tauranga Side: dialectical differences
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