RE: Yes, I AM the spelling police!

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RE: Yes, I AM the spelling police! - 10/20/2011 1:44:06 PM

LondonLenny

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Who cares so long as a birds got nice knocker's?

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RE: Yes, I AM the spelling police! - 10/20/2011 1:45:40 PM

mnottertail

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bird's; would be a contraction of bird has.

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RE: Yes, I AM the spelling police! - 10/20/2011 1:53:25 PM

MadAxeman

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You can contract worse than that off some birds.

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RE: Yes, I AM the spelling police! - 10/20/2011 1:55:43 PM

LondonLenny

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Yea like that Bird Flue they all get evry month!

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RE: Yes, I AM the spelling police! - 10/20/2011 1:58:31 PM

mnottertail

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You fancy a bit of raspberry crumpet, mate?

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RE: Yes, I AM the spelling police! - 10/20/2011 2:49:00 PM

Edwynn

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~FR~

In the last ten years or so I've seen use of "an historic occasion" and such like creep into the language. Is it an article (pun intended) of faith that the word "historical" be preceded by the article "an"? I am used to hearing some British pronounce historical as "istorical," Henry as "enery," etc., where in actual pronunciation the use of "an" could be warranted. But it's never done in the US at all, and it being that the use of "an" rather than "a" as the article is for purpose of providing a consonant sound in front of a vowel sound , i.e., not a "you" sound for the letter u, then this use of "an historic" or "historical," etc. does not make sense. We say (and spell) "an hour" because the 'h' is silent, so the pronounced vowel 'o' is what necessitates use of the article "an." We speak and spell it as "an uncle," or "a university" or "an unusual occurrence" for this reason. It's the sound (or lack thereof) of the letter that dictates the proper article, not the letter itself.

In any case, I'm going to an Halloween party soon, and I hope I don't wind up in an hospital because of an historical disaster of some sort.

< Message edited by Edwynn -- 10/20/2011 3:09:22 PM >

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RE: Yes, I AM the spelling police! - 10/20/2011 3:01:51 PM

SweetCheri

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It would seem that either is acceptable.

quote:

Remember, using a or an depends on the sound that begins the next word. So...
a + singular noun beginning with a consonant: a boy; a car; a bike; a zoo; a dog
an + singular noun beginning with a vowel: an elephant; an egg; an apple; an idiot; an orphan
a + singular noun beginning with a consonant sound: a user (sounds like 'yoo-zer,' i.e. begins with a consonant 'y' sound, so 'a' is used); a university; a unicycle
an + nouns starting with silent "h": an hour

a + nouns starting with a pronounced "h": a horse

In some cases where "h" is pronounced, such as "historical," you can use an. However, a is more commonly used and preferred. A historical event is worth recording.

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/540/01/

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RE: Yes, I AM the spelling police! - 10/20/2011 3:23:32 PM

Edwynn

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Yes.

I've seen changes in the dictionary over the years such that when a word gets mis-used often enough it gradually becomes allowed as a second or third meaning.

Far be it from me to try to stanch the flow of newspaper reporters and 'news anchors' using the term "staunch the flow of" instead the proper word. I will always be a stanch supporter of their using the word "staunch" however they damn well please. Or something like that. They are always "chomping at the bit" (ahem ... it's actually "champing at the bit," dear fellows) to use the word "impact" as a verb as often as possible anyway. It makes me think of a bad tooth or something.

< Message edited by Edwynn -- 10/20/2011 3:45:03 PM >

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RE: Yes, I AM the spelling police! - 10/20/2011 3:34:50 PM

Edwynn

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quote:

ORIGINAL: MistressDarkArt

PS: I leave you here with our perennial favorite: dominant and dominate. No effing comment...please pass the Advil.

Oh, my favo(u)rite too!

"I am a Dominate";

Half the putative dominants on these sites.

"I seem to be a verb";

Buckminster Fuller.

I can't wait to get to one of those geodesic dungeons, myself.

< Message edited by Edwynn -- 10/20/2011 3:43:34 PM >

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RE: Yes, I AM the spelling police! - 10/20/2011 3:40:54 PM

PeonForHer

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My brother did history at uni - they'd have heated debates about 'an historical' versus 'a historical'. I'd go with the latter as a matter of taste and an unwillingness to sound (even more) pompous.

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RE: Yes, I AM the spelling police! - 10/20/2011 3:58:48 PM

AdorkableAiley

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quote:

ORIGINAL: PeonForHer

My brother did history at uni - they'd have heated debates about 'an historical' versus 'a historical'. I'd go with the latter as a matter of taste and an unwillingness to sound (even more) pompous.

It's a not an.

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RE: Yes, I AM the spelling police! - 10/20/2011 4:03:23 PM

Edwynn

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You mean that it might make me sound effectacious if I said "an historical view," e.g.? I wonder how that would effect others' perception of me. I would only hope that there'd be no such affect.

Sorry, this is getting to be too much fun here.

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RE: Yes, I AM the spelling police! - 10/20/2011 4:05:20 PM

AdorkableAiley

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Edwynn

You mean that it might make me sound effectacious if I said "an historical view," e.g.? I wonder how that would effect others' perception of me. I would only hope that there'd be no such affect.

Sorry, this is getting to be too much fun here.

Heh, wouldn't bother me. I try to ignore mistakes becuase well, what I said before... people in glass houses... but if *I* see a mistake it is a big one. The only things that really bother me are when its written so bad I cannot understand what is being said. Even then I try to be sensative about how or if I say anything at all about it.

Ailey

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RE: Yes, I AM the spelling police! - 10/20/2011 4:30:49 PM

Edwynn

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I still cross-purpose affect and effect sometimes, even though I know full well the distinction and the difference. Posting to forums can do that to anybody. Affect is always a verb, and effect is usually a noun, but does have meaning as a verb on some occasions. One can affect (have influence on) how things change, just as one can effect change (cause change to happen), without otherwise having any deleterious effect on society as result.

I don't usually call out posters on any spelling, grammar, etc., I'm just having fun in this particular thread is all. If I'm responding to others in a forum, I don't pay nearly as much attention to how I'm saying it as much as when writing a paper, e.g., so I let things slip.

< Message edited by Edwynn -- 10/20/2011 4:34:01 PM >

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RE: Yes, I AM the spelling police! - 10/20/2011 4:41:48 PM

PeonForHer

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Edwynn

You mean that it might make me sound effectacious if I said "an historical view," e.g.? I wonder how that would effect others' perception of me. I would only hope that there'd be no such affect.

Sorry, this is getting to be too much fun here.

That, Edwynn, is nothing short of butchery. Shame on you.

My accent is a shade short of upper class Brit. That 'shade short' is important to me. I refuse to say 'cold' with the same 'o' sound as 'bone' and I absolutely *will not* sound the 'h' in 'when' and 'where'. 'An historical' is in the same category, albeit a written example, for me.

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RE: No, I is the spelling pollice! - 10/20/2011 4:42:28 PM

SoulAlloy

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U no it's like lurnin a knew way off commmunikatine with eachuvver.

Were theirs bad ways of riteing they'res bound two be an half-arghsedd way of riteing it too.

An i kno that maid kno sense, i's runnen out of pore spelling too make.

Luv y'all

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RE: No, I is the spelling pollice! - 10/20/2011 4:51:30 PM

TheFireWithinMe

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Reading that actually hurt SA. I admit fully to being a grammar nut and I'm not ashamed to admit it. I can't understand how people (read: my bosses) can be so well educated yet so unable to formulate articulate sentences.

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RE: No, I is the spelling pollice! - 10/20/2011 4:55:18 PM

SoulAlloy

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I offer my most sincere apologies, I just couldn't resist

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RE: No, I is the spelling pollice! - 10/20/2011 4:59:24 PM

TheFireWithinMe

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Oh please, you aren't sorry in the least. I can sense the smile when you wrote that. Vengeance will be mine!

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RE: Yes, I AM the spelling police! - 10/20/2011 4:59:43 PM

HeatherMcLeather

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quote:

Far be it from me to try to stanch the flow of newspaper reporters and 'news anchors' using the term "staunch the flow of" instead the proper word. I will always be a stanch supporter of their using the word "staunch" however they damn well please.

My personal linguistic peeve is people who make up stuff and complain when people don't follow these imaginary rules. Things along the lines of insisting that a flow of blood cannot staunched when it can ( http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/staunch), or that impact isn't a verb ( http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/impact ).

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