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Where Did ‘An’ Go?
A grammar rant.
I’m not a grammar Nazi by any means. By any means. Sometimes I absolutely sound like English is my third language, especially when I’m typing “Pubic Square” instead of “Public Square” on an envelope for the 14th millionth time.
I also can’t type. Thank God I’m not a secretary or a writer.
But have you noticed that the word ‘an’ is MIA?
It’s bizarre. Nobody says ‘an’ before a vowel sound anymore. Did I not get the memo?
It’s like everybody woke up at the same time and said, “We can’t afford that extra ‘n’. Just use ‘a’ before everything. And while we’re at it, fuck cursive.”
I probably notice this more than most because of my transcription side-hustle, where I have to listen to people mangle the English language so badly I wonder how any of us have any idea what anybody else is saying and where I realize that people normally talk in one long run-on sentence that never ends.
The word ‘an’ has probably disappeared because teachers are too busy trying not to get shot by third graders to worry about things like when to use ‘an’ or ‘a’.
And ‘‘i before e except after c’’? Forget about it. Use spellcheck, Billy.
