Did y’all know that the newt (the small lizard-like animal, not the large lizard-like politician) used to be an ewt? I’m not talking about evolution, folks. I mean the newt once had a different name?
It didn’t change its own name like Bruce Wayne or Marylin Monroe. Humans changed it. And those humans didn’t change it intentionally because they felt it suited the creature better, or because it looked like their crazy Uncle from Georgia. Their ability to speak the English language properly caused them to inadvertently do the following:
For some time the creature was known as “an ewt,”
but the “n” from the indefinite article an shifted to form a newt.
What in the world? Were these meshugenners drunk?
Y’all, in my previous post, I was kvetching about folks refusing to use the swiftly-fading an. But now I see how dangerous such a word can be in the wrong hands. Speaking correctly changed the poor ewt forever, and it likely has an identity complex few of us (but for masked vigilantes and sex symbols) can ever fully comprehend. I suppose I should be grateful that, since most folks reading this probably don’t even know what I’m talking about, this sort of thing isn’t likely to happen again.
Still I beg you to use the indefinite article an, but for the love of Moses, y’all, use it wisely.
Thanks.
-Gilda Sue
GILDA SUE ROSENSTERN 