> I wonder what accent you have and which ones you’ve regularly heard spoken Not parent, but I have the same experience as parent. I am from CA and have lived

> I wonder what accent you have and which ones you’ve regularly heard spoken Not parent, but I have the same experience as parent. I am from CA and have lived in PA and DC as well. I also studied linguistics in college and so have a reasonably well-tuned ear for this. It is absolutely not "hysterical" to say that people do this to sound superior. The vast majority of Americans who say "an historic" on a regular basis that I've come across are historians. I have hung out with plenty of other well-educated and pedantic folks (in linguistics, economics, and law), and even they don't do this. YMMV, of course. From where do you hail?