I remember there being some discussion -- I can't remember whether it was Sam or Dean. . . but let's face it - the Winchesters are almost never shirtless so how would we know?

I know! What's with this lack of wholesome male nudity, for cryin' out loud?

I read an interview somewhere with Jensen Ackles where he mentioned that he was uncomfortable with suggestions that they spend more time with less clothes, since those scenes would most likely take place in a motel room. (My impression from the article was that he wasn't saying it in an homophobic type of way, just in an "I'm tired of being asked that question" type of way.)

For the grammar police -- is it "a" homophobic, or "an" homophobic?

Yeah, I saw that, too.

But hey! That's what away missions are for! Shirts rip, people! See Shatner, Bill.

Clearly, they just need some sort of plot-based reason for it. Like cage fighting.

(Or, you know, I could just pop those Dark Angel S2 DVDs back in and watch the totally gratuitous shirtlessness there.)

is it "a" homophobic, or "an" homophobic?

Maybe it's "a homophobe"?

as in "He's homophobic." and "He's a homophobe"

An is generally used before a word starting with a vowel sound.

"A historian told me..."

"An historian told me..."

See, I'm lost on this one. Maybe it comes from too many years of listening to pompous English and Comparative Literature professors (meaning no disrespect to any English teachers here on the board, by and large I adored almost every single one of my professors).

It's the English language: common usage can sometimes trump the rules.

It's not pretty, but it happens.

How many times have you heard people use "thee" for "the" when trying to emphasize the word, when they could just, oh, put more emphasis on it?

Maybe it's "a homophobe"?

No it isn't, because she was using "homophobic" to modify the word "type".

It's the English Language: common usage MAKES the rules.

See also: descriptivists always win. (Neener!)

That said, the article 'the' is pronounced differently depending on if it's stressed or unstressed, and if it's in front of a vowel or not.

Hah. I guess I wasn't looking at the original context.

That's the problem with reading posts individually. I had forgotten the context.

Sincerest apologies. I'll go watch something on DVD and try to stop hitting my forehead.

This, I will state, is new as of about three or four episodes ago.

Night Shifter is where I noticed my attraction to him going up. The hair is better, but the shot of him glaring at Dean as they get frisked & the knife is found (scroll halfway down) is.... well, damn. Boy's growing up. Now, the acting he did in this past ep amped up the attraction a lot.