Indefinite Article

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Colin Phillips

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This came to me yesterday morning whilst listening to Nicky Campbell on Radio 5.
He was talking about a sporting event and he referred to "an istoric event".........he gave the sense that he knew that there was something wrong when he was reading/saying it.........perhaps I expect too high a standard from the ex-bastion of the English language, the BBC.

Then sometime during the day I was typing something and I typed in "an unique" and it didn't look or sound right. No problem with "an unusual" but the minute the "u" is pronounced like a "y", the "an" doesn't seem right. Have I forgotten some exceptions to the rule?
 
It is correct to use "a" rather than "an" before all words beginning with a vowel or diphthong with the sound of u (as in unit) - a eulogy, a European etc.

It is also correct to use "an" before unaspirated h - an heir, an honest woman, an honour; also as a matter of style it is preferable to use "an" rather than "a" before hotel, historic and heroic.

All British (and, I guess, Irish) newspapers and broadcasters will have their in-house style guiide and the above will be the norm in them.
 
Frankly, anyone who says "it's an 'istoric 'otel" nowadays sounds either irritatingly pretentious or Chavesque. It's archaic, I think, and not in touch wiv Engerlish like what it is spoke.

I have been truly infuriated by so many 'athaletes' competing in the Winter Olympics. There are probably fewer athaletes in the news than burgalars, but what with the hawesome hinvasion of the errant 'haitch', I am fit fair to exaplode with hirritation.
 
Brian is quite right. But such things are not included in BBC style guides because it's assumed people working for the BBC know such things. Instead, it concentrates on use of language etc. Eg the correct use of fulsome. How often do you read in the papers someone offering fulsome praise to some one, when they were far from "gushing" in what they said.
 
Fulsome: cloying, or causing surfeit, nauseous, offensive, gross, rank, disgustingly fawning (as in, the fulsome Matt Chapman... ). I rely for many words' descriptions on a 1955 Chambers because so many of today's dictionaries are popularized, giving only very brief descriptions of meanings. However, the use of words constantly evolves, and you might like to acquaint yourself with the previous meanings of everyday words through Jeffrey Kacirk's ALTERED ENGLISH: Surprising Meanings of Familiar Words, pub. Pomegranate, ISBN 0-7649-2019-7, obtainable either on order or often in 'Past Times' shops.

Example: JOCKEY, a man that deals in horses. A cheat, a trickish fellow. From JACK, the diminutive of JOHN, comes JACKEY, or as the Scots say it, JOCKEY, used for any boy, and particularly for a boy who rides racehorses. (Samuel Johnson, 1755).

The verb 'to jockey' signifying to cheat or to trick, is in Johnson's and other dictionaries. A friend of John Pickering's informs him that it is a coarse but well-known colloquial word in England in 1816.

Ah, not SO much change there, then... ;)

I'm amused when people think that the phrase about Jesus 'suffering' little children to come unto him, meant that He took them into His company under sufferance! But that meaning of 'to suffer' meant 'to permit', so He was merely inviting kiddywinks to be allowed to meet Him, not to be kept away.

I love lexicography!
 
I returned a report to the Head of English yesterday for the following sentence "Charlotte has achieved the grades she is capable of."

Her response beggars belief. She stated that this is the 21st century and a refusal to end a sentence with a preposition is archaic!! I give up, I really do.
 
Pee, I've never forgotten your priceless note about the 'essay' on Romeo and Juliet, where the teacher deemed it acceptable that "Juliet went, like, yeah, whatever... "!!

'Sall abou makin Engerlish inclusive, innit?
 
She is still refusing to alter the report so I think I will send her the next batch written in text speak. After all, it is the 21st century.
 
Never mind ending a sentence with a preposition - I'm fed up with the hundreds of Americanisms that have infiltrated the English language, and worse still, have become accepted forms of English - wtf? Since when were realise, plagiarise, treatise, etc, etc spelt with a 'z'? Why is it now an accepted form of English? Next we'll be spelling colour, flavour et al minus the 'u's...
 
Pee - u mst do tht! Id lk 2C hr fce whn she gts th msg n t am, yeah? You should send it back, completely wrecked with every grammatical nonsense you can think of, plus perhaps a few foanetickly spelled words - surely the next great step in the evolution of our langwidge?
 
I was in Poland recently and was astonished to meet some young Poles who had actually been taught a subject named American English with all the annoying idiosyncracies you mentioned above Shadow. It was remarkable, and they all managed to speak with American accents too. I would have walked away in disgust if it wasn't for the fact that they were, well, female and ridiculously attractive. Damn Polish.
 
American English is taught wherever the US has military bases and was the form of English taught in Saudi schools, thanks to their strong influence through oil exploration there. That's not just with American, or US-trained, teachers influencing the accents adopted, but also the spelling and the inflexions. Many universities in developing countries are also funded by American companies, and students do a lot of post-grad work at US universities. Most of the Arabs and Phillipinos I worked with spoke English with a Stateside twang!

You're not wrong about Eastern European beauties, either, Bobbyjo. They're generally a very attractive collection of peoples, both in their looks and in their personalities.
 
Huh!

You think we're picky? We write e-learning courseware for use in legal firms both here and in the US. We have to completely re-write our stuff for the US market. They will not accept English spelling - ie is has to be customize, not customise etcetc ad nauseum.....

Unlike here, where we have to look past many programmes developed in the US and seem accepting of 'Amercianized' English, they refuse point-blank to do so. I believe we should do the same!

One real irritiation of mine is the date formatting in programmes such as Excel. I usually find I have to use the mm-dd-yy format (yes, I am aware that you should be able to customise it but believe me, that doesn't always happen). When I am writing cheques these days, I have to concentrate very hard and remember which account I'm signing on, as our US bank really doesn't like the UK date format!!
 
Bobbyjo, the instance you mention about the Poles you met having an American accent is the same with many East Asians, particularly the Koreans. I know several Korean people out here who have never been near the States yet speak in a broad American accent. I was told it was attributed to the television - most of the English heard comes via American TV programmes, in Korea at least. I'd be quite surprised if that was the case in Europe though!
 
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