@dharbige said:
@amigan said:The word "historic" is a bad example though. The "h" is not silent, and so it should be "a historic" in the UK and elsewhere. A lot of people make this mistake, including some "grammar nazis".
Can't say I agree with you here. In the UK, I believe it is better to use "an historic" than "a historic".
Perhaps this makes me a so-called "grammer nazi".
If you would normally drop the 'h', then you would use 'an'. That's more of a dialect thing though. For example, a cockney may say "The 'istorical artifact", in which case it would be consitent for them to say "An 'istorical artifact".
The following page seems to imply that I'm advocating the "traditional rule", but also implies that either is ok:
By "grammar nazi" I mean people who flame about grammar, so I wouldn't say you were one.