X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII X-Google-Thread: f996b,ef84650dd3e606e5 X-Google-Attributes: gidf996b,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2001-10-08 05:22:25 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!news1.google.com!newsfeed.stanford.edu!logbridge.uoregon.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: Dingo Newsgroups: alt.ascii-art Message-ID: References: Mime-version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-transfer-encoding: 8bit Lines: 39 Date: Mon, 08 Oct 2001 12:22:24 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 144.136.229.172 X-Complaints-To: news@bigpond.net.au X-Trace: news-server.bigpond.net.au 1002543744 144.136.229.172 (Mon, 08 Oct 2001 22:22:24 EST) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 08 Oct 2001 22:22:24 EST Organization: BigPond Internet Services (http://www.bigpond.net.au) Xref: archiver1.google.com alt.ascii-art:8503 On 8/10/01 12:15 PM, in article B7E749DF.1C72%dingo@bigbog.etc.au, "iDingo" wrote: > 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 > Oh yeh, 'An honorary...'