Travel language
It no longer seems polite to simply get off a train or a plane. These days one must detrain or deplane. The language seems stilted because train and plane are nouns and sticking the prefix de- in front doesn't really turn them into verbs.
The people at Eurostar insist that you embark and disembark and the thing you are doing when you think you are getting off is disembarkation. The root of the word -- bark -- actually means boat so maybe it conjures romantic images of ocean liners for some.
South West Trains still use alight to mean get off. This has a lovely 1950's Brief Encounter feel to it so, frankly, I prefer to alight if it means I can avoid detraining. However, it does rather imply that their trains are dark places.
A guard (sorry, customer services manager) on Scotrail invited me to uplift my personal items before leaving the train. So I sang a couple of hymns to my suitcase and left it where it was on the luggage rack before alighting at Perth.
The people at Eurostar insist that you embark and disembark and the thing you are doing when you think you are getting off is disembarkation. The root of the word -- bark -- actually means boat so maybe it conjures romantic images of ocean liners for some.
South West Trains still use alight to mean get off. This has a lovely 1950's Brief Encounter feel to it so, frankly, I prefer to alight if it means I can avoid detraining. However, it does rather imply that their trains are dark places.
A guard (sorry, customer services manager) on Scotrail invited me to uplift my personal items before leaving the train. So I sang a couple of hymns to my suitcase and left it where it was on the luggage rack before alighting at Perth.
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1 Comments:
In the US I was told we were about to deplane. In the airport a tannoy message kept telling me to retain "visual contact" with my personal belongings. What's wrong with watching?
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