gripe from a lurker

[Bob Haas]

Chuck, this note from the American Heritage Dictionary might help put your mind at
ease:

Usage Note: Historic and historical are differentiated in usage, though their senses
overlap. Historic refers to what is important in history: the historic first voyage
to outer space. It is also used of what is famous or interesting because of its
association with persons or events in history: a historic house. Historical refers
to whatever existed in the past, whether regarded as important or not: a historical
character. Historical refers also to anything concerned with history or the study of
the past: a historical novel; historical discoveries. The differentiation between
the words is not complete. They are often used interchangeably: historic times or
historical times.

FWIW, I've been called on this myself, but that historic(al) episode took place in a
distant enough past for me to have forgotten whether I had any claim to correctness
or not.  Have fun.

chuck grandgent wrote:

> I've been on the ADS list quietly for a while now,
>
> but I can't contain myself any longer, and the ADS crowd seems the right
> place to complain.
>
> Which of the following quotes from semi-fictional news stories are valid usage ?
>
> 1) "the flood last week was of historical proportions."
> 2) "last night a five-alarm fire destroyed an historical building in the
> heart of the theater district."
> 3) "Abraham Lincoln was an historical person."
> 4) "Abraham Lincoln was an historic person."
>
> 2) and 3) I think actually are OK (I hope I'm not embarrassed here),
> though the meaning is different in each case,
> but I'm tired of hearing with what it seems like increasing frequency things like
> 1) and 2), where it would seem "historic" and "historical" are synonymous,
> whereas I don't think they are at all.
>
> Chuck Grandgent,   chuck at chuckg.com

--

Bob Haas
Department of English
University of North Carolina at Greensboro

                          "Shun the frumious Bandersnatch!"