Was November 4 an Historic Day?

Yesterday I got an interesting e-mail from a reader, Katie. She wanted to know if you’re supposed to say a historic or an historic. She thinks a historic is correct, but her girlfriend, Dylan, is a firm believer in an historic. As Katie wrote:

The lady friend and I were disagreeing over this little indefinite article the other night; despite valiant attempts, we could not come to an agreement that I am correct . . . Had just about anyone else disagreed with me, I would have brushed them off, but Dylan has rarely been wrong and her contention has made me curious.

Katie, when I first read your letter, I was with you all the way. “A historic,” I thought. “Definitely. Not an.” But I decided to check my sources before I got cocky, and since then, things have gotten more complicated, as is their wont.

First I asked my S.O., Mr. K—, what he thought. For one thing, this question seemed to be right up his alley. For another thing, he was in the middle of washing dishes at the time, making him a captive audience. Our conversation went something like this:

Him: An historic sounds like an affectation.

Me: Yeah, I think so, too. It sounds so mannered. People should say a historic. [Pause] You don’t think it’s a British thing, do you?

Him: No.

Me [feeling paranoid, because British English always trips me up and leaves me feeling like some stupid, ignoramus Yank]: But what if Katie’s “lady friend” is British. I mean, she didn’t say she wasn’t British. Maybe they’re both British.

Him: It doesn’t matter if you’re British. It should be a. [Pause] But I do use an sometimes.

Me: What?!

Him: Never in writing! Just when I’m speaking. Like, if I’m giving a conference paper, I might say an historic. It sounds more formal.

Anyone with a functioning nervous system could tell that Mr. K— was wrong, wrong, wrong. “It sounds more formal.” Please. Clearly, Mr. K— had made the same mistake that Katie’s lady friend had: he wouldn’t agree that I was correct. So, I hit the books. Surely they would back me up, right?

Right?

Well, Katie, you will be happy to hear that both Chicago and AP use a before historic and historical in their respective discussions of how the words differ. Garner’s, too, will not disappoint. It discusses the a-versus-an dilemma at length:

Most authorities have supported a over an. The traditional rule is that if the h- is sounded, then a is the proper form. So people who aspirate their h’s and follow that rule would say a historian and a historic . . . This is not a new “rule.” Even the venerated language authority H.W. Fowler, in the England of 1926, advocated a before historic(al) and humble.

However, the current edition of Fowler’s (i.e., not the one written in 1926) says flat-out that historic should take an. I don’t know what’s up with that, but it might make Dylan happy to hear it.

Dylan might also like to hear that the Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage blesses an: “A number of commentators prescribe a [before historic], but you should feel free to use an if it sounds more natural to you. We find that more writers use a than an but that both are common.”

I guess it all comes down to, as Garner’s put it, whether you aspirate the h-. If you do (hiss-toric), then say a. If you don’t (iss-toric), then say an, but keep in mind that some people might do as linguist Dwight Bolinger has done and charge you with “Cockneyed, cockeyed, and half-cocked ignorance and self-importance” (Garner’s, 1).

Personally, I think of an historic as a tuxedo: there’s nothing wrong with wearing one, but if you don’t confine it to very specific events, you run the risk of looking like a tool. Unless, of course, you’re British, in which case, I don’t know what to tell you.

Update (12:30 p.m.): Grammar Girl gives a historic the nod. I learned through Mighty Red Pen that The Columbia Guide to Standard American English favors a historic. Barbara Wallraff, the editing guru who sparked my interest in grammar during my undergrad days, says that a historic is correct if you pronounce the h and that an historic is correct if you don’t—but hurry up and use an historic now because it’s going out of style. And, most outrageously, according to Language Log, the title of the Oxford English Dictionary was affected by the a-versus-an conundrum (I am not making this up).

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Comments

[Jesus Saves, I Spend]

I think I would usually pick "a historic day," although "an historic day" doesn't necessarily sound wrong to me. I think my degree of aspiration is probably moderate.

Oddly, though, "an historian" sounds dreadfully wrong.

"This is my boyfriend. He's an historian at Rutgers."

Aaargh, no!!

[Mr Ink]

Your friend was on the money when he said he writes "a historic" but says "an historic". I think I would start from that position too, but maybe write "an historic" depending on the tone of the piece I was working on. To the English ear, it would be right to sound it "an 'isstoric". It is comfortable to say and maybe to read - and maybe (dare I say it) that is what we should strive for: to make the copy right and relaxed.

[Lancaster]

Doesn't the answer become clear if you just utter an unadorned "historic."

The "h" sound is pretty clear to me. It takes an "a."

[Mike]

If I'm "uttering an unadorned 'historic'" then I'm not using an indefinite article. It's a different situation.

Writing is an effort to communicate clearly with the reader, and the choice of a-versus-an should be based on that (in this particular situation). I've been tripped up reading "a historic" because it doesn't match speech patterns I recognize. If I were writing this in my journal, though, there would be a swear word acting as an adjective between "a/an" and "historic," so it's a moot point in that case.

[Cheri]

My dilemma has always been with articles before abbreviations. For instance, before Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, I would use 'a.' But, before MBTA, I'm tempted to use 'an' because the 'M' is pronounced 'em' when read. Am I correct in doing that?

[Ruth]

I'm writing a friend's book which is just going to print this week and we're having to decide if going to 'a historic church' is better than going to 'an historic church'. So I found your webpage while consulting an educated friend of mine, and read it to her over the phone. It makes such a good read and we laughed all the way through! She decided that the red high heels definitely represent authority, so we're opting for 'a'. Well you've got to make a decision at some point!

[Katie]

Thank you, Ms. Editrix; your help is much appreciated!

Nothing is settled, of course, and we're both still finding examples of our preference for one another. Though we both agree that Jane Austen was going a bit too far when she wrote the following sentence in Northanger Abbey:

"No one who had ever seen Catherine Morland in her infancy would have supposed her born to be an heroine."

[Krilu]

It's really a question of how to pronounce "historic". And since it is pronounced with an "h" (I believe), I'm for "a historic..." all the way.

[Steve K.]

I found this page when searching about a/an after watching Frost/Nixon where a reporter called the Watergate incident "an historic day." He even pronounced the 'h' and being the good grammarian, I had to figure out why! :)