Comments on: Anathema

By: Ben

Ben — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 19:50:26 +0000

ugh! Thanks, Shelly. I can’t stand this word, despise its wrongful deployment as the only “adjective-noun” in the World…and you just know that people say: “It was anathema to him” because nobody had the patience for the “Anne Elk” effect of “an anathema.”

By: tommie miller

tommie miller — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 02:53:07 +0000

“Chomping at the bit” instead of “Champing at the bit” has always driven me crazy. And yes, I have no idea why anathema is used without the article.

By: Tara

Tara — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 14:57:04 +0000

I’ve heard many people mispronounce it as an “aneethma”, and I have even seen it written in newspapers as an “enethma”, so it is confusing. Of course, I saw a newspaper print that the President said he was going to be “pottering” around in his back yard instead of “puttering” around, so I guess anything goes nowadays.

By: Mark

Mark — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 20:27:52 +0000

I agree with both of you. I have occasionally used the word and have noticed that I seem to be the only person using the article. In fact, I came across a website where the use of the article was apparently an anathema to the posters. I will now stick to my guns and continue to use “an.”

By: Mirkat

Mirkat — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 14:23:04 +0000

Shelley, I agree. “Anathema” without the “an” hurts my ears (or eyes when I’m reading). (I’m also more of an “a myriad of” girl–i.e. “a myriad of possibilities” instead of “myriad possibilities.”)

By: Shelley

Shelley — Wed, 04 May 2011 16:15:56 +0000

The use of anathema as a noun without the article has always driven me crazy. I was glad to find out that it is actually OK to use an article, so should I ever have the occasion to use the word (doesn’t come up all that often for me) I plan to use “an anathema”.