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"An"

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  • 28-12-2010 10:08pm
    #1
    Jay D
    Registered Users Posts: 2,738 ✭✭✭


    Yeah you know the word that you put before a vowel or some few exceptions such as hour, honour, etc., well what is it becoming an absolute norm in media for?

    I used to read it the odd time in papers thinking the English editors etc, but this is becoming all the fecking time now and I just think it's crap tbh. Am I missing something?

    It sounds completely stupid and unnatural in reporting when you hear an Irish accent come out with an - before horrific etc and yes you can notice the effort it took to say that rather than the normal Irish way.


Comments

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    #2
    Oranage2
    Registered Users Posts: 11,130 ✭✭✭✭Oranage2


    what an sh!t thread


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    #3
    starbelgrade
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,739 ✭✭✭✭starbelgrade


    You've far too much spare time on your hands if this bothers you.


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    #4
    GLaDOS
    Moderators, Regional East Moderators Posts: 23,208 Mod ✭✭✭✭GLaDOS


    This is not a important matter.

    Cake, and grief counseling, will be available at the conclusion of the test



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    #5
    KeithM89_old
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,806 ✭✭✭✭KeithM89_old


    "I have an erection"
    "I have a erection"

    Which one sound right to you OP??


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    #6
    biko
    Registered Users Posts: 81,223 ✭✭✭✭biko


    There is an English forum where you can discuss the merits and issues you may have with certain words and phrases.


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    #7
    Oh_Noes
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,512 ✭✭✭Oh_Noes


    Bothers me more how Irish politicians can't pronounce the words million or billion, they say "millen" and "billen" instead. I've no idea why.


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    #8
    Aidric
    Registered Users Posts: 13,589 ✭✭✭✭Aidric


    KeithM89 wrote: »
    "I have an erection"
    "I have a erection"

    Which one sound right to you OP??
    I have a horn.


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    #9
    BOHtox
    Registered Users Posts: 4,314 ✭✭✭BOHtox


    KeithM89 wrote: »
    "I have an erection"
    "I have a erection"

    Which one sound right to you OP??

    What if the op's a women?


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    #10
    Jay D
    Registered Users Posts: 2,738 ✭✭✭Jay D


    done and dusted Biko, cheers...


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    #11
    KeithM89_old
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,806 ✭✭✭✭KeithM89_old


    BOHtox wrote: »
    What if the op's a women?

    She should call over to my house and fix it then....


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    #12
    galwayrush
    Registered Users Posts: 12,815 ✭✭✭✭galwayrush


    Oh_Noes wrote: »
    Bothers me more how Irish politicians can't pronounce the words million or billion, they say "millen" and "billen" instead. I've no idea why.

    Because they don't understand the figures.:rolleyes:


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    #13
    rednik
    Registered Users Posts: 5,151 ✭✭✭rednik


    An Taoiseach.:eek:


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    #14
    TanG411
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,836 ✭✭✭TanG411


    An hero.


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    #15
    Poor Uncle Tom
    Registered Users Posts: 14,546 ✭✭✭✭Poor Uncle Tom


    If they're speaking english, they may as well speak it properly, regardless of what nationality they may be.


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    #16
    orourkeda
    Closed Accounts Posts: 17,919 ✭✭✭✭orourkeda


    KeithM89 wrote: »
    "I have an erection"
    "I have a erection"

    Which one sound right to you OP??

    I have a stonking hard on


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    #17
    biko
    Registered Users Posts: 81,223 ✭✭✭✭biko


    IF
    serious discussion GOTO here
    ELSE
    continue


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    #18
    galwayrush
    Registered Users Posts: 12,815 ✭✭✭✭galwayrush


    rednik wrote: »
    An Taoiseach.:eek:

    Dat last one:pac:


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    #19
    galwayrush
    Registered Users Posts: 12,815 ✭✭✭✭galwayrush


    KeithM89 wrote: »
    "I have an erection"
    "I have a erection"

    Which one sound right to you OP??

    Neither ffs.:eek:


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    #20
    the keen edge
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,533 ✭✭✭the keen edge


    Or how about cot?

    Which could be used to describe a child's bed; but not how Garda O'Brien apprehended a criminal.


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    #21
    zero19
    Registered Users Posts: 5,641 ✭✭✭zero19


    ScienceNerd wrote: »
    This is not a important matter.

    I see what you did there


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    #22
    Tar.Aldarion
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,082 Mod ✭✭✭✭Tar.Aldarion


    Sounds fine to me.


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    #23
    Dionysus
    Registered Users Posts: 3,420 ✭✭✭Dionysus


    Jay D wrote: »
    Yeah you know the word that you put before a vowel

    Before a vowel sound. There's a very important difference.

    Jay D wrote: »
    or some few exceptions such as hour, honour, etc., well what is it becoming an absolute norm in media for?

    The only occasions where 'an' was correctly placed before words beginning with 'h' was when the words in question were of Latin origin. For example, in Received Pronunciation (RP) English it was correct to say 'an historic' because the word derives from Latin and thus people dropped the 'h' in pronunciation. In RP English today, however, 'A' rather than 'An' is the preferred prefix according to the OED. You'll still hear regional accents in England say 'an hotel' and the like, but it is more correct to avoid it now.

    In Hiberno-English, however, the 'h' was always pronounced. Accordingly, it was never correct to say 'an historic' or 'an hotel' here.

    Jay D wrote: »
    It sounds completely stupid and unnatural in reporting when you hear an Irish accent come out with an - before horrific etc and yes you can notice the effort it took to say that rather than the normal Irish way.

    I agree entirely. They think they are more correct for saying 'an' but they're really showing their lack of education up. Likewise with people who use 'whilst' rather than 'while'.


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    #24
    coffee_cake
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Politics Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 81,310 CMod ✭✭✭✭coffee_cake


    BOHtox wrote: »
    What if the op's a women?

    I doubt the OP is several women at once.


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    #25
    the keen edge
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,533 ✭✭✭the keen edge


    Dionysus wrote: »
    Likewise with people who use 'whilst' rather than 'while'.

    How about a couple of examples of when to use whilst vs. while, and also whom vs. who.

    Much obliged governor.


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    #26
    cafecolour
    Registered Users Posts: 1,328 ✭✭✭cafecolour


    Jay D wrote: »
    It sounds completely stupid and unnatural in reporting when you hear an Irish accent come out with an - before horrific etc and yes you can notice the effort it took to say that rather than the normal Irish way.

    You don't say 'an' before 'horrific'. You only say it when the word starts with a vowel SOUND. In hour and honour, the beginning h is silent, so you use the an. Also why you would say 'a one-handed man' not 'an one-handed man' (since 'one' starts with the SOUND of a consonant - ie 'w')


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    #27
    Seth Brundle
    Moderators, Politics Moderators Posts: 38,958 Mod ✭✭✭✭Seth Brundle


    BOHtox wrote: »
    What if the op's a women?
    Then the OP could be this hot looking chick...
    http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/08/21/article-1208012-061F1698000005DC-881_468x545.jpg



    Anyhow, OP who gives an fupp whether a or an is important?


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    #28
    Jay D
    Registered Users Posts: 2,738 ✭✭✭Jay D


    kbannon wrote: »
    Then the OP could be this hot looking chick...
    http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/08/21/article-1208012-061F1698000005DC-881_468x545.jpg



    Anyhow, OP who gives an fupp whether a or an is important?


    Well I thought it was ok when you had kids newspapers like the Sun and the like using it, but when our national media has slowly filtered and now basically adopted it, something is up and it's not good.


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    #29
    kowloon
    Registered Users Posts: 13,314 ✭✭✭✭kowloon


    galwayrush wrote: »
    Because they don't understand the figures.:rolleyes:

    Hence their inability to understand why everyone is so pi55ed off.


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    #30
    BluesBerry
    Registered Users Posts: 2,221 ✭✭✭BluesBerry


    Can I have a P please Bob!!!!


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    #31
    Dionysus
    Registered Users Posts: 3,420 ✭✭✭Dionysus


    the keen edge wrote: »
    How about a couple of examples of when to use whilst vs. while, and also whom vs. who.

    Much obliged governor.

    Whilst is simply an archaic form of while. If somebody chooses to use 'whilst' over 'while' they should be consistent and use 'unbeknownst', 'amidst', 'amongst' and all the other similarly archaic (Middle English) words. There's no logic in holding on to 'whilst' when 'while' is the accepted modern form in all dictionaries without exception. Some people use 'whilst' because they believe it's the correct form in British English: it's not. All dictionaries of British English go with 'while'.

    I came across this appropriate piece about using archaic words from Fowler:

    'It is conscious archaism that offends, above all the conscious archaisms of the illiterate .... For the vilest of trite archaisms has this latent virtue, that it might be worse; to use it, and by using it to make it worse, is to court derision.'

    H.W. Fowler (1858–1933), The King’s English (2nd ed., 1908), Chapter III. Airs and Graces: ARCHAISM


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