Grammar police I need your help please [title edited by MNHQ at OP's request]

[CareBear50]

First world problem I know, but this conundrum is driving me slightly batty. Is it "a Hawaiian" pizza or "an Hawaiian pizza"??

I understand that if a noun or adjective starts with the letter h , if the h is silent eg heirloom, you would say an heirloom. However, if it's a hard h sound then you would say eg a hairline fracture.

However a Hawaiian pizza is harder to say than an Hawaiian pizza....so which is correct please??

Am I the only person here who doesn’t care what this goon wants?

Reported.

"minimising the mass murder of milions of people"

I thought this might be the reasoning. The thing is though, people use this sort of metaphorical language all the time, for rhetorical effect - we talk of 'plagues' of things that don't actually make people ill at all, despite the fact that plagues killed hundreds of millions of people in centuries past. We might say that a boring or otherwise uncomfortable experience was 'absolute murder'; we talk about losing one's temper as 'going nuclear', or taking the 'nuclear option', with Hiroshima and Nagasaki still in living memory.

Do you also find these sayings offensive?

One can only wonder what would happen were some posters on this thread accidentally stumble on "The Producers" (1968) with it's parodies of Naziism and "Springtime for Hitler and Germany ..." song and dance sequence ....

I don't think there's much danger of anyone ignoring America dropping another nuclear bomb anywhere.

Would that was the case with genocides

www.genocidewatch.com/countries-at-risk

As the full horror of what had happened in wartime Europe became apparent, people fell over themselves to say 'never again'.

And yet. It has happened again. There has been no public will to intervene with the ongoing crimes against humanity that are taking place right now, and every careless use of Nazi to mean 'someone who is a bit pernickety' erodes the effectiveness of campaigns and movements against the groups who can be genuinely compared to Nazis.

I would say an before, sorry can't be bothered to spell it! 😬😬

@PotholeParadise
That seems a bit of a spurious point. After World War II, millions of lives were lost in genocides in Cambodia, in Sudan, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Bosnia and Herzegovena - and others. The reasons for these are complex, well-documented and far beyond my own expertise, but I'm not sure we can honestly count the hyperbolic use of the term 'Nazi' among them.

It's hardly a spurious point if you are asking me to expand why I wouldn't give help on grammar threads that reference National Socialism. You can disagree with me but it will not change my reasoning for not helping the OP.

You said the word stupid (nazi) I am telling Miss
Ah I see, we’re back in primary school now.

@Hirsutefirs
“An hotel” is accepted because it’s a French word and in French the “h” is silent

No. It really isn't

The word ‘hotel’ has been in use in the English language long enough to be thoroughly nativised, and no native speaker would say 'an oatelle' (unless they are a tosser).

As soon as I realised my mistake I immediately asked that title on thread be changed as I knew I should absolutely have used a different word. Just seems odd that people are still debating this. Of course I am appalled by what happened in Europe around the time of WWII and I abhor how the Jews and others were treated. I made a mistake. Would be great if we could get back on topic?

Would be great if we could get back on topic?

Seconded!

A Hawaiian Pizza

Does Hawaiian start with “an aitch” or “a haitch”?

(Retreats to a safe distance...)

However a Hawaiian pizza is harder to say than an Hawaiian pizza

No it’s not “An Hawaiian” is harder and much more of a mouthful than “A Hawaiian”.

I remember my teacher once saying to often go with our gut about what sounds right.
For example, "An home" sounds wrong and most importantly doesn't flow like "A home". Same with the pizza. It's designed to be easier on the tongue. Otherwise why bother with two options😉

I suppose it depends on how you pronounce the 'h'. If you pronounce like you would if you said 'house',with a definite 'huh' at the start of it,then I think you would put 'a'. You wouldn't say 'an house' would you? But if you pronounced it without a 'huh' at the start',as in 'homage',then I think it would be 'an' before it. Hope that makes sense!

It's AN abomination is what it is. Pineapple on pizza

@JimmyTheWeed isn't "homage" still pronounced with "Home" H? However, heir has silent H. So does honour and honest. These would be with An, rather than A

It's AN abomination is what it is. Pineapple on pizza envy

That is A statement which can provoke some emotional responses😂 It's actually A delightful topping.

Don't forget difference between THE and THE, everyone 😂

It's quite a hard, pronounced 'H' in Hawaiian, so personally I'd use 'a' rather than 'an'.

I'd use 'an' for softer, less defined words starting with H - an hour, for example.

but I'd prefer pizza fiorentina

A Hawaiian
A Hotel
A Herb (British)
An Herb (American)
An Umbrella (ella, ella)
A Unicorn
A one-hour test
An orange
An FBI agent
An H-bomb
An M-class planet

If in doubt - use a filler word:
A delicious Hawaiian pizza
A luxury hotel

TheSandman - so now we have not only the Grammar Police, but the Spelling Police too !

An hotel is still commonplace , used as it's softer I think, though an older usage..