TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
I tried to search the archives about this one, but the server doesn't seem
to be working. And since it hasn't been on any of the "recurring
nightmares" posts, I thought I'd put it to the list.
I have the following phrase in a topic:
"... with a/an .eel extension."
The question is, should it be A or AN? Grammatically speaking, I would
guess you ignore the dot and use AN. But if you say it out loud, you might
well say "with a dot eel extension", in which case A sounds right.
When I read it, something in me twitches if I have AN. What do you all
think?
Chris
TECHWR-L (Technical Communication) List Information: To send a message
to 2500+ readers, e-mail to TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU -dot- Send commands
to LISTSERV -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU (e.g. HELP or SIGNOFF TECHWR-L).
Search the archives at http://www.documentation.com/ or search and
browse the archives at http://listserv.okstate.edu/archives/techwr-l.html