6 ms·
"An herb", good god. But completely agree. For anyone who hasn't followed what's happening to Gawker's corpse, this is worth a read: https://theconcourse.dead
by shredprez 6y ago
"An herb", good god.
But completely agree. For anyone who hasn't followed what's happening to Gawker's corpse, this is worth a read:
https://theconcourse.deadspin.com/the-adults-in-the-room-1837487584 https://theconcourse.deadspin.com/the-adults-in-the-room-183...
- eindiran 6y agohttps://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/herb https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/herb Note the pronunciation given for US and Canadian English, with the optional /h/: /(h)ɝb/ If your dialect pronounces it as /ɝb/ it is perfectly natural to say "an herb" (/æn ɝb/) and saying "a herb" (/eɪ ɝb/ or /ə ɝb/) with that pronunciation is incorrect.
- shredprez 6y agoI repeat, good god. I am familiar with the linguistic norms at play here, and if I come across an herb in a grassy meadow, I’ll happily say so. It’s specifically the collision of the dialectal “an” and a slang expression strictly pronounced with a “hard” h that got me. A person is never called an ‘erb, unless the individual speaking is themselves a total herb. In any case, no offense intended to OP! It genuinely made me laugh. And none intended to you either, this exchange has been very HN in the best way.