On or in a thing?

And while we're at it - they often want to alight the train when it reaches its destination - I don't like the word personally but I can live with it - but what the hell is the inverse of alighting?

For example - other than getting on/in the train/carriage (depending on where you are on the starting of this thread) why do we have the term alight when we could just get off/out (depending on whether you got in/on in the first place)?
 
AtticusFinch said:
And while we're at it - they often want to alight the train when it reaches its destination - I don't like the word personally but I can live with it - but what the hell is the inverse of alighting?
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You embark on a train journey or when you go on a voyage by boat - that's your precursor to alighting at the other end.

You're welcome to just get on and off the train/aeroplane/boat but if you do then you're missing out on some of the delightful idiosyncrasies that make English the wonderful language it is.
 
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Not attacking the language ....

semi-pro waster said:
You embark on a train journey or when you go on a voyage by boat - that's your precursor to alighting at the other end.

You're welcome to just get on and off the train/aeroplane/boat but if you do then you're missing out on some of the delightful idiosyncracies that make English the wonderful language it is.
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Just trying to understand it - I agree one can embark on the journey but then you disembark at the end of it rather than alighting. I just wonder if alight feels all lonely sitting out there by itself and no match for it :D
 
AtticusFinch said:
That we often travel on a train or on a boat (as opposed to being in either of these things) but we don't travel on a car, rather preferring to travel in it?
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Because on planes, trains, buses and ships you are generally a passenger travelling on a passenger deck or else somewhere specifically designed just for passengers. A car however is formost designed for the Driver and is a more personal mode of transport. For example a passenger gets on a bus, but a driver gets in his bus.

Thats my explanation anyway.:)
 
AtticusFinch said:
Also the phrasing of "there is no smoking on anywhere ON this station" seems a bit weird to me. I accept you can be "on" a station or "on" a football pitch but I am never "on" my office (they're all just places) so why the difference do we think?
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a football pitch and a station (well platform) dont have a roof (and I dont class an overhang as a roof) so you cannot be in them... an office is an enclosed space so you can be IN it...
 
These are some of the great 'rules' that we use in English that make it so difficult for non-native speakers to learn. Bill Bryson has written a couple of books on the subject and they are fascinating.

Most recently in the US I 'de-planed', apparently.
 
Is it to do with the ability to stand?

Because.... You can stand up ON a train and a bus and a plane but you can only sit IN a car?

Maybe?
 
Belmit said:
These are some of the great 'rules' that we use in English that make it so difficult for non-native speakers to learn. Bill Bryson has written a couple of books on the subject and they are fascinating.

Most recently in the US I 'de-planed', apparently.
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Then you have pre-boarding as well....

Eh?
 
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