One thing I’ve always found somewhat annoying. (Yes, three weeks into the Bloggaday, and I’m already scraping the bottom of the barrel with things that “somewhat annoy me”) is when people use the article “an” before words that begin with an “h.” It’s not so bad in typed form, because you don’t hear it even though I won’t do it, but when someone actually says it, it is grating.
Now, the reason why “an”’s are used is because in older English, these “h”’s weren’t pronounced. You can still see this in words that still have that silent “h” like herb. I’ll say, “an herb,” because with that vowel sound, it would be odd to say “a herb.” But by damn, I’m putting my foot down on this “an h” nonsense. If it’s silent, feel free to put “an.” But don’t use “an” if you are pronouncing the “h.” It’s a consonant people, and you don’t use “an” to precede a consonant.
You know what, I’ll extend this to people who really throw the “h” in words that start with “wh” like “whiskey” and “why.” Now, I’m not a maniac, I don’t mind the use of extra “h” (yes, this is where I’m drawing the maniac line). But still, something needed to be said.
Let’s recap. Do not say, “An Herring is a bird that loves a herb every once and a while.” “H” is a consonant sound, and thus, shouldn’t be preceded by an “an.”
Listening to
“War Pigs by Cake
“Iron Man” by Ozzy
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