It's historic!

On the one hand, it may seem petty to focus on the niceties of language at this great moment in America's history. On the other hand, one reason Barack Obama is now the President-elect of the United States is his extraordinary command of the language. As I discussed in my column in the November Atlantic, his word choices aren't especially fancy. It's just that Obama uses the right words, so that he's easy for all of us to understand and hard to find fault with, unless you're trying to.

On that note ... A reader writes:

In all of this election coverage, I can't help but cringe ever time I hear people misuse historic/historical.

Many reporters are saying a historic event instead of an historic event which is forgivable enough.  But I'm surprised about the categorical use of historical.  Am I wrong in thinking that Obama's election will be historical in 40 years, but in fact is simply historic for the moment?  And if I am correct in this line of thinking, I'm guessing you have noticed this misuse of historical it as well.

OK, "a" is the right article with "historic" if you pronounce the "h," as dictionaries indicate most of us do. "An" goes with the "istoric" pronunciation, which is getting to be, well, historical.

But my correspondent is quite right that this is a "historic" moment (a history-making one), not a "historical" one (one in history) and that not everyone is aware of the distinction. 

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/robert-schlesinger/2008/11/04/barack-obamas-election-gives-us-a-rarity-a-positive-instantly-historical-moment.html

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20081105/NEWS0106/811050799

Sort of a good sign: If you use Google News to find recent uses of "historical," one piece it returns from a major professional site has already been corrected to read "historic":

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=6169622&page=1

Comments

Meow!

Posted by Jacquazia-Hanamefendi Jackson | November 5, 2008 2:15 PM

This issue came up in the summer of 2007. Hank Aaron had this to say when Barry Bonds broke his career HR record:

"I would like to offer my congratulations to Barry Bonds on becoming baseball's career home run leader. It is a great accomplishment which required skill, longevity, and determination. Throughout the past century, the home run has held a special place in baseball and I have been privileged to hold this record for 33 of those years. I move over now and offer my best wishes to Barry and his family on this historical achievement. My hope today, as it was on that April evening in 1974, is that the achievement of this record will inspire others to chase their own dreams."

For analysis, see here.

Posted by chris | November 5, 2008 4:33 PM

re: Historical aspirations

As Eddie Izzard says, "We say herb, because there's a (expletive deleted) 'H' in it."

Posted by pannonica | November 5, 2008 7:07 PM

And, I thought I was the only one irritated by this. As I watched and listened to Sarah Palin refer to Obama's victory as an (I still prefer that article) "historical moment," I cringed.

Our very public figures, who are offering themselves as potential leaders and role models, should be able to do more than parrot cliches and sound bites. They should also be able to speak correctly, if not literately.

Posted by Bob Wood | November 6, 2008 5:02 PM

Thank you, thank you for pointing out that "a" is perfectly proper to use with words beginning with an 'h' that is pronounced. The obsessive insistence on "an" without any justification beyond an appeal to authority has always bugged me.

Posted by Cranston | November 6, 2008 8:45 PM

That article had been up for 24 hours. That is historical by internet standards.

Posted by Tel | November 7, 2008 1:26 PM