X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII X-Google-Thread: f996b,ef84650dd3e606e5 X-Google-Attributes: gidf996b,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2001-10-07 21:15:58 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!news1.google.com!newsfeed.stanford.edu!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!intgwpad.nntp.telstra.net!news-server.bigpond.net.au!not-for-mail User-Agent: Microsoft-Entourage/9.0.1.3108 Subject: Re: what is it? From: iDingo Newsgroups: alt.ascii-art Message-ID: References: Mime-version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-transfer-encoding: 8bit Lines: 34 Date: Mon, 08 Oct 2001 04:15:56 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 144.136.229.172 X-Complaints-To: news@bigpond.net.au X-Trace: news-server.bigpond.net.au 1002514556 144.136.229.172 (Mon, 08 Oct 2001 14:15:56 EST) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 08 Oct 2001 14:15:56 EST Organization: BigPond Internet Services (http://www.bigpond.net.au) Xref: archiver1.google.com alt.ascii-art:8493 On 4/10/01 10:24 AM, in article trni3fcsk9g9cb@corp.supernews.com, "anonymous@bogus_address.con" wrote: > > On 2001-10-03 l3mst0r@bumblbee.demon.co.uk said: > >>> It's rather easy when you know it really, when a word begins with >>> a vowel, you say "an" (an apple, an oven, an utter) if it begins >>> with a consonant, it's always "a" (a pear, a clock, a ship). >>> It's easy as (a) pie :-)) >> >> What about Hour, Hotel, Happy? It's not enough to know that the >> word starts with a vowel, you have to know it *sounds* as though it >> starts with a vowel. > > In American English, the preferred (and proper) usage is: > > =A= hotel > =A= happy > =A= hovel > =A= ham > =A= herring > > ..since in American English, the leading 'h' is almost always > pronounced. There is no 'dropped-H' Cockney accent in the U.S.A. > > 'Hour' is the exception that proves the rule. In American English, > the leading 'h' in 'hour' is =not= pronounced...so correct usage > there is '=an= hour.' But that's a rare exception. > An honest... An honourable... An hors d�oeuvre