Dear Readers,
In the English language, there is a part of speech known as the article. There are three of them: a, an, the. The is known as the definite article and it announces a noun that is specific or defined.
For example, "The grapes you bought at Gelson's are delicious." A is known as the indefinite article because it announces a noun that is not specific or defined. For example, "I would like a banana with my cereal." Which banana I eat is not clear nor defined. What about the third article, an? This little word is also an indefinite article and is used in place of a in front of a vowel. Why? Because it is easier to pronounce. For example, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." Which apple you eat is not defined.
Thus explained, I have been noticing a trend where people are using a in place of an, which changes the way our language is spoken. Here are examples of this trend:
Example: On the "Shark Tank" episode which aired October 19, 2012, business "shark" Robert Herjavec says to entrepreneur Tania Patruno, "Tania, you've done a amazing job..."
Example: Steve Harvey's guest on his November 7, 2012 daytime show was Judge Alex Ferrer.
The judge responded to a legal question from an audience member by saying, "In Illinois, they have the uh, a act, the Rights of Married Persons Act..." A judge said that?
Example: "The Locator", Troy Dunn, asks the estranged son of his client, "Is there a answer to the
why question?"
Example: The "Criminal Minds" episode entitled "The Fallen" had the character of a former Marine Sergeant, now a homeless man in Santa Monica, helping the BAU team identify a murdered victim.
He tells the FBI agent, "He was a artist."
Example: On "CSI: New York", episode "Reignited," a suspected arsonist being interrogated by Detective Mac Taylor claims he did not set a recent building fire and wants to clear his name. He tells Mac, "I'm offering my services as a...arson investigator."
And in this same episode, another suspected arsonist who is being interrogated admits to igniting an abandonned car. He explains, "It was just supposed to be a easy, simple thing."
The fact that on this show two different characters misused the same indefinite article points to the writers as the culprits (forget the arsonist).
Now note these examples:
Example: In the tv show "Hawaii Five-0" episode "Kapu", Steve McGarrett and Chin Ho are talking to a botanist about his friend, a murdered chemist from the university. The botanist, Dr. Stephens, says, "Joel was a ... an amazing chemist."
Example: From the show "Scandal", one of the employees of Washington, D.C. "fixer" Olivia Pope
attends a 12-step program meeting and introduces himself by saying, "My name is Huck and I'm
a ... an alcoholic."
What I love about these two examples is that you hear the person actually correct himself when realizing that the noun he is about to use begins with a vowel. For all the others, how lazy can you get?
Well, I hope this has been an enlightening and a worthwhile posting for you.
