Paula LaRocque / PaulaLaRocque.com

Certain problems in language can persist over decades, even centuries, of attempted correction – as we see from the following:

• “In June, the House of Representatives took an historic vote to pass comprehensive climate and energy legislation.”

“An historic” is an old, odd, persistent error. Because we pronounce the H in “historic,” the correct choice is “a,” not “an” – a house, a hog, a hotel. We use “an” only when the H is silent – an honor, an hour, an heir.

Centuries ago, some suggested pairing “an” with words that began with a pronounced H but also with an unstressed syllable – because in such cases the H would be weakened. The idea seems to have clung only to “historic,” however. No one says “an haphazard” or “an hesitation” or “an harmonica” – all words with unstressed first syllables. In any case, the practice is a relic from another time, and modern counsel is simply to use “a” with a pronounced H and “an” with an unpronounced H.

• From a theater critic: “Still, when he’s not chewing the scenery, he seems entirely absent, and one wonders, along with Juliet, ‘Wherefore art thou, Romeo?’ ”

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