usage ridicule

[Laurence Horn]

On Mar 26, 2012, at 7:53 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:

> A CNN pundit gently ridiculed Newt Gingrich for saying "a historical"
> instead of "an historical."
> 
> I was once ridiculed in print for writing "an historical" instead of "a
> historical."
> 
> Can't we all just get along?
> 
> JL
> 
John Chancellor weighed in on this topic a while back, agreeing with your ridiculer rather than Newt's:

When Ronald Reagan carried 49 states and won 525 electoral votes, it was not an historic victory. Walter F. Mondale’s poor showing wasn’t an historic defeat. Mr Mondale’s choice of Geraldine A. Ferraro as his running mate wasn’t an historic decision, either. None of these was an historic event.  Each was a historic event.
(--John Chancellor, New York Times; op-ed after 1984 election)

LH

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