Talk:Ross, Tasmania

The Four Corners of Ross
In the map, it is indicated that the Four Corners of Ross is in the crossroads of Church and Bridge Streets, but in the text it is refered as being in the crossroads of Church and High Streets. Wich one is right?
 * Bridge Street, now fixed, thanks for picking it up! --Melburnian 12:20, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

Pet hate - "A historical" vs "An historical"
It's a religious war that nobody can win, but I wanted to spread the gospel I prefer!

See (for example) Dr Grammar, which includes the following. The same applies in Australia.

A or An?
According to The Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style, "The indefinite article a is used before words beginning with a consonant sound, including /y/ and /w/ sounds. The other form, an, is used before words beginning with a vowel sound. Hence, a European country, a Ouija board, a uniform, an FBI agent, an MBA degree, an SEC filing. Writers on usage formerly disputed whether the correct article is a or an with historian, historic, and a few other words. The traditional rule is that if the h- is sounded, a is the proper form. Most people following that rule would say a historian and a historic--e.g.:'Democrat Bill Clinton appears within reach of capturing the White House in Tuesday's election, but Republicans hope that late momentum, can enable President Bush to win a historic upset' (Dallas Morning News). Even H.W. Fowler, in the England of 1926, advocated a before historic(al) and humble (MEU1). The theory behind using an in such a context, however, is that the h- is very weak when the accent is on the second rather than the first syllable (giving rise, by analogy, to an habitual offender, an humanitarian, an hallucinatory image, and an harassed schoolteacher). Thus no authority countenances an history[emphasis added], though a few older ones prefer an historian and an historical.

Today, however, an hypothesis and an historical are likely to strike readers and listeners as affectations. As Mark Twain once wrote, referring to humble, heroic, and historical: 'Correct writers of the American language do not put an before those words' (The Stolen White Elephant,1882). Anyone who sounds the h- in such words should avoid pretense and use a (Garner 1).

John Y 12:49, 13 February 2007 (UTC)