Today’s wording is all about Herb Brooks, Herbie Hankcock, Herbie the Love Bug—no I mean herbs. One of those odd things the English language makes us remember is that there are silent h’s in our language. Like hour, when talking about an herb that is pronounced with a silent h we use ‘an’ instead of ‘a’.
I know it’s a silly rule, but I’ve always secretly liked it. I like saying ‘erb’ and if ever befriend a Herbert, I’m probably going to be obnoxious and call him Erb or Erbert or Erbie. Which I’m almost certain is a terrible joke he has heard way too many times before. So I’ll only refer to him that way in my head, lest I desire to lose a friend.
The silent h in herb really makes the word flow to that b sound at the end like a bubble gently breaking the water surface. Saying ‘Herb’ with the hard H sound reminds me of a frog late at night. Herb-bert-her-bert.
Other words that begin with a silent h also include:
honest, heir, honor, and the aforementioned: hour.
That’s pretty good company our herbs are in. Enjoy the silence.
WORDING is an ongoing (but irregular) series of posts I’ll be making about words. I won’t always delve into proper use. depending on the word and what it means to me and potentially others there may be articles about words that trigger me, words I love, words that always look misspelled to me and more.
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