Why do we say I'm on the train (bus/plane/boat) when we say I'm in the car?
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Why do we say I'm on the train (bus/plane/boat) when we say I'm in the car?
We just do, so get over it!
:p
On is short for on board?.
No idea but im gonna go with........its beacuase the car is generally ours or a friends.Quote:
Originally Posted by BohsPartisan
The bus train plane are bigger and owned by other people
Do some work , you must be really boredQuote:
Originally Posted by BohsPartisan
Nothing to do with who owns the vehicle, you wouldn't say you were on a London taxi, would you?
It's a shortening of on board, I reckon too.
Why do you say Boez when we say Bohs;) :p
Because when you're rich you can say what you want and no one argues. :cool:
:D
And here I was thinking this was going to be a post about bellybuttons....
Good question though, never really thought about it, hmmmmm it's a good one for the pub, just to get people stumpped.
I've an outie! :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Dricky
Mine is in.Quote:
Originally Posted by Peadar
I've got an innie.
People who are left handed, people who have a uni-brow (sp??), and people with outties are weird. If you fall under all three you are f.ucked :D
Peadar has all three! :D
Can anybody do the Vulcan greeting \\\// with both hands?.
Just with the left hand, can't do it with the right anymore since my baby finger is broke.
Yes, but then I can't touch the tip of my nose with my tongue nor roll my tongue for that matter. Nor can I wiggle my ears. Mrs PP and all her family can do all of these - and she calls me a freak? :confused: :DQuote:
Originally Posted by the 12 th man
:ball: PP
An outie is just a hernia at birth.Quote:
Originally Posted by Raheny Red
Could happen to anyone!
The others are surely genetic?
They say that left handed people live longer so I'd say that it's the rest of us who're fukked! :eek: :D
Hmmmm... she sounds interesting. What else can she do? ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by PlasticPaddy
Quote:
Originally Posted by Plastic Paddy
Never mind PP, Vulcan greeting much more important-"Live long & prosper":D
Ahhh, but you see, the outtie folk look strange, the lefties just look wrong when they play golf or are writing, and as for the uni-brow people they just look evil.Quote:
Originally Posted by Peadar
Not sure if left-handedness is genetic.Quote:
Originally Posted by Peadar
Plus it's the opposite; they (we) don't live longer. It's to do with a lot of things set up for a right-handed world.
Rolling your tongue is genetic. As is liking cucumber.
Now that's definitely evil!Quote:
Originally Posted by noby
As a language teacher, let me shed light on the subject (!!).
Choosing "in" or "on" is determined by the amount of freedom allowed to the item which is contained. A person in a car is relatively confined space-wise. A pen in a pocket is likewise confined. Also, a cup in the cupboard.
A person on a bus/train has relative freedom to move around without undue effort. A book on a table has freedom to be moved about without undue effort.
Note that we would say a book is "in a bookcase" but "on a bookshelf" as the word "case" suggests the book it totally surrounded, while the word "case" suggests that there are sides where the book is not surrounded. (in other words-in the open. Explain that!!
There are exceptions such as a person in a bus station, but this is to avoid confusion as to whether the person is inside the building or on top of the building. This confusion doesnt really exist as to whether the person is travelling in or on the car.
We came to a similar conclusion here in work.
Argue me into a corner, shut me up with a quick word or a wisecrack and book me a holiday to Mauritius. All of which she did today. God, I love that woman... :DQuote:
Originally Posted by BohsPartisan
:ball: PP
Language usage is dynamic, which is of course to be welcomed in most contexts, but just lately I have noticed a blurring of many of the rules that I thought were fixed. Either that or people just can't speak properly any more. I was on a train from London to Hull two nights ago when the train manager announced that we would be "terminating into Hull at 2206". "Terminating into"? WTF?? I nearly choked on my beer at that. "Arriving into" is also a common phrase that I hear; surely "arriving at" is the proper usage?Quote:
Originally Posted by osarusan
Am I just being pedantic for hankering after proper sentence construction or are people really losing their ability to communicate clearly? :confused:
:ball: PP
I often hear them saying on trains here that "this is the last and final stop"!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Plastic Paddy
There are a lot of expressions like that, just listen to George W Bush.
A few that annoy me - "very unique". Unique already means completely different, it isnt possible to be more than completely different.
A recent quote from a CNN program in Africa about a war camp - "some of the people who end up here seldom make it alive."
But even though it is not grammatical, the expression I dislike most is when somebody says "my next guest is person who needs no introduction before going on to introduce them, usually at great length.
Seriously though, there are theories that as email, and especially text messaging of the C U L8R variety become more popular, we are losing our skill at writing and expressing ourselves.
Here in Japan, basically everybody has a 携帯電話, or cell phone. As you can see, Kanji is a pretty difficult language to write. Now, with predictive text messaging, the phone basically guesses the kanji for you, so a lot of younger kids, while able to read them, are unable to write them.
It is creating quite a stir here.
First off, noby is right, us lefties live an average of 7 (!) years less than our oddball counterparts, I read only yesterday.
Secondly, and probably in sharp contrast to the above sentance, the mangling of English is a pet hate of mine too, so it is for itself.
The one that's really getting my goat at the moment, though it's not really in the same vein, is the removal of the 's' sound of the letter x in the word sixth, rendering it as 'sikth', principally by UK newsreaders but now by pretty much everybody. Listen out for it, it's been happening for a few years and is now totally endemic (that another one, osarusan? :) ) on TV. :mad:
Quote:
Originally Posted by stann
As if we needed anymore proof that the blahs were weirdos!
Been in Japan for 5 years, so might have missed the "sikth" revolution.
Totally endemic...............let me get back to you!!
Another one I dislike is the use of 'literally'.
Kevin Keegan - "(that striker whose name I cant remember) literally has no left foot........(pause)......well, not literally."
People struggle with the basics like,
there, their, they're
your, you're
been, being
its, it's
quite, quiet, etc. and you want them to be more considerate when using the word "literally"?
Surely it's basic too: do not use the word literally to emphasise or stress a metaphor.
"That band were so loud they literally blew the roof off."