Saying aN Historic is an absurdity. Until comparatively recently, it was correct not to aspirate such words as hotel. That is why in older novels, one tends to see 'an hotel'. It was, of course, pronounced, by duke and dustman alike, 'an 'otel'.

@Jayles. "Interest rates increased." Good example. Clever old interest rates.
It leaves one wondering where the rest of the sentence is. I don't mind the passive in moderation so long as it is a true passive, not this strange form that obeys no rule of logic.

Oddly, in my previous post I was about to do the same thing myself. I nearly wrote, "The sentences should read this way." Sentences don't read. People do.

Exactly. There is no passive there. And there should be.
The sentences should run this way:
"The situation was transformed into something quite different."
"That is translated as 'Beware Greeks bearing gifts.'"
Situations can't transform and words can't translate. They lack volition.

@Jasper Saying 'idiomaticity' should be a test of sobriety.

@JaspernotJason....Thank you.

We all have a lot invested emotionally in our culture, and language is the repository of so much of it. It has to do with how we see ourselves individually and collectively. One can't always be clinical about these matters.

It was meant light-heartedly and not meant to offend.
I think both sides in this continuing debate need to take a step back. If either side expresses itself too forcefully then the good-natured, enjoyable element is lost. And I say that in a non-partisan way.

It's true - dear old Will does try to bludgeon us to death with his tolerance.

'Reaching out' is one of those naff, feely-touchy phrases that companies have started to use to show they CARE.

The sudden appearance of 'no man is an island' in 1940 is probably owing to the publication in that year of 'For Whom The Bell Tolls'.