this post was submitted on 17 Aug 2026
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My Onguard lock, that has served me well for over a decade (I have 2 of these, the other one has been in use for almost 15 years), had some of the pins stuck, preventing the key from going inside all the way. Oil didn't help so I disassembled the lock, cleaned the parts and found two pins that had some slight wear/sharp bits from use that lodged them in place. I filed the sharp edges off from the pins, reassembled the lock and now it seems to work ok. While at it I learned how to serialize these locks and read the serial number of the lock from the key.

The whole affair took about 2 hours because I missed one of the worn pins and repeated the procedure several times before finding the last culprit. It's a miracle none of the almost invisible springs got lost!

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[–] Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 17 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (5 children)

Sorry, I'm just hung up on whether or not U lock should get a or an.

I know it's a vowel, but it doesn't sound right with "an" since the "you" sound phonetically starts with a Y.

Not criticizing the post or anything, just a weird thing I noticed.

[–] ladicius@lemmy.world 8 points 6 days ago

You nearly did a U-turn on the topic 😉

[–] daychilde@lemmy.world 6 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I came to the thread to post about this. lol. The other replies haven't explain:

If you say "oo-lock", that gets "an". If you say "yew-lock", that gets "a".

(It should be the latter. Vowels are a hint with 'an', but that's not the rule - it's about pronunciation, not spelling)

[–] ALiteralCabbage@feddit.uk 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

What about words like "historian"? An Historian and a Historian both "work"; my rule of thumb as a native speaker would be "does it feel odd to say" for this.

[–] daychilde@lemmy.world 2 points 5 days ago

If you say it like 'istorian, then "an" would be necessary. Othewise, you need "a". :)

[–] Drusas@fedia.io 3 points 5 days ago

Definitely 'a', not 'an'.

[–] BCsven@lemmy.ca 3 points 6 days ago

A Universes, AN Umbrella, A USB stick, AN Umbilical cord.

[–] sem@piefed.blahaj.zone 3 points 6 days ago

The "sometimes y" at work!

[–] litchralee@sh.itjust.works 5 points 6 days ago

TIL U-locks can serviced. Mine hasn't died yet -- knock on wood -- so I've never thought to do that. But glad to know it's doable!

[–] treadful@lemmy.zip 3 points 6 days ago

Guaranteed I would mix up the pins on the way back in.