Comments on: An Historic Blog Post

By: Lisa

Lisa — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 17:38:25 +0000

This reminds me of another change that has occurred over time….it used to be proper to put two spaces after a period and before the beginning of the next sentence. That’s what was taught in typing class in high school.
Now, it’s become the norm, and also indicated in the Chicago Manual of Style, to put only one space after the end of a sentence and before the next sentence.

I agree with you Dave, and I know that in times past, that was the correct way, and the ONLY “correct” way.

By: tony

tony — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 10:11:09 +0000

http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/CMS_FAQ/Usage/Usage78.html

Q. Is it an historical novel or a historical novel?

A. In Chicago style, it’s a historical novel. Please see CMOS 5.73: “With the indefinite article, the choice of a or an depends on the sound of the word it precedes. A comes before words with a consonant sound, including /y/, /h/, and /w/, no matter how the word is spelled {a eulogy} {a hotel suite} {a Ouachita tribe member}. An comes before words with a vowel sound {an LSAT exam room} {an X-Files episode} {an hour ago}. See also 5.202, 7.46, 15.9.”

By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 07:25:20 +0000

Thanks Recidivist Stickler! Fixed!

By: A Recidivist Stickler

A Recidivist Stickler — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 10:30:27 +0000

I would suggest that in order to be “universally correct” you may wish to use the word ‘populace’ in place of ‘populous’ in your post

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 19:34:38 +0000

Thanks, Jim. It’s good to be in the club of Those Of Us Who Know We’re Right™. We’ve got jackets, by the way.

And thanks, Hadley. I agree about the nuances being the thing that make English awesome! I think that’s the problem illustrated here. There are a lot of complex rules and nuances that make “an historical” correct, and it seems the Great Unwashed wish to wipe them all away and homogenize our language. Screw that!

Oh, and Hadley — for the record, I believe that both “an historical” and “a history” are both correct, as you stated. It’s all about nuance: in this case the accented syllable is the deciding factor.

By: Jim Dalrymple

Jim Dalrymple — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 19:24:15 +0000

You are absolutely correct, Dave.

By: Hadley Stern

Hadley Stern — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 08:16:38 +0000

Either way, you’ve got to admit it is a much finer argument than words like:

- strategery
- Decider
- etc

If the only language conversation is between “a historical” and “an historical” then we have come a long long way.

As an aside, it is one of the great things about the English language that there are all these nuances. As someone with English and Canadian heritage there are many things about American English that I find odd, or make me gasp.

Finally, you are right, no one writes that “an historic” is wrong, just like no ones writes that “a history” is wrong either.

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 21:35:24 +0000

you’re right. As in, “This is an histerical conversation”. That’s correct.

You should meet up with Grammer Girl… Maybe startbyour own podcast, ‘grammar guy’.

So… Then… What’s your take on Apple’s use of the word ‘funnest’ when describing the new iPod Touch…. they say, The Funniest iPod Ever.

Great conversation.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 21:28:01 +0000

Fair enough. You may need to shake your first President Obama, stylebooks, and anyone else who gets in your way next week on the Geek Gab.

By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 21:06:44 +0000

That’s just it. If this is deprecated, it’s only happened recently and there are MANY of us who are completely unaware that what once was verboten is now acceptable.

It will take a LONG time before “an historic” is considered incorrect (if ever), and I’ll continue using it until then and likely beyond (because, you know, I like being a stubborn jackass about some things! )

Just because AP and Chicago get it wrong doesn’t mean we have to follow suit.