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What started this ridiculous craze for saying "train station" instead of "railway station"?

The expression "train station" is so infantile that I didn't even use it in 1966 (the year I started primary school), yet it is even being used by railwaymen this year. Why do you think that is?

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ArishMell · 70-79, M

I agree entirely! It is yet another Americanism adopted unthinkingly in Britain apparently only because it is American.

The railway staff probably become infected by hearing it so much from the public, politicians, councillors and reporters. Perhaps they think anyone outside the industry would no longer understand "railway station".

"Train Station" even appears on a Council-made sign-post in my town.

I imagine it is similar to the way that business middle-managers and property-speculators become infected by "identifying a need" to join genuine trade terms with pseudo-intellectual, semi-illiterate twaddle "going forward".

helenS · 36-40, F

@ArishMell

railway staff

... or maybe "train staff"? 😏

NortiusMaximus · M

@helenS Another Americanism I hate is the way journalists refer to RAF Stations as "bases"

ElwoodBlues · M

@ArishMell
'Train' comes from a French verb that meant "to draw; drag."
It clearly refers to the whole traveling vehicle.

'Railway' refers to the stationary track on which the train travels.

Talking about trains puts the focus on the vehicle and the travel. It's also a shorter word, and easier to rhyme in songs.

NankerPhelge · 61-69, M

@ArishMell So why did Simon and Garfunkel call it a railway station (as opposed to "train station") in their classic hit song "Homeward Bound"?

ElwoodBlues · M

@NankerPhelge Perhaps the meter is partly trochaic?

NankerPhelge · 61-69, M

@ElwoodBlues If the Americans call that a meter (as opposed to "metre"), what do they call a meter as in gas meter or parking meter? Remember, we are talking about unrelated words here, they are not interchangeable. How do Americans get around that one?

ElwoodBlues · M

@NankerPhelge Grab a copy of the OED and look up "set." You'll find twenty or thirty very different meanings for the same spelling.

How do Americans get around that one?

We just shake our heads at the absurdity of the "English" language!!

NankerPhelge · 61-69, M

@ElwoodBlues How dare you say the English language is absurd? I think the Americanised version is more absurd but I don't normally say so except in a tit-for-tat comment such as this.

ElwoodBlues · M

@NankerPhelge

'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master — that's all.” ― Lewis Carroll

Ultimately, a language is determined by its speakers and writers. We effectively vote with our tongues and pens. And there seem to be a few more voters on this side of the Atlantic.

NankerPhelge · 61-69, M

@ElwoodBlues I'm determined not to let the English language be mangled by people who don't have a clue how to write it properly. I want it to be determined by people like my old English teacher, the pompous and pedantic Mr. Hodges.

ElwoodBlues · M

@NankerPhelge As I said elsewhere,
I think that train has left the station🤣😂🤣

BTW, did the pompous and pedantic Mr. Hodges take exception to ending sentences with prepositions? Or did he agree with Churchill's “This is the type of arrant pedantry up with which I will not put.”

NankerPhelge · 61-69, M

@ElwoodBlues Funnily enough, everyone took the piss out of Mr. Hodges when he said "it's the sort of behaviour up with which I shall not put". That was how he used to talk.

tindrummer · M

@NankerPhelge rhyme is an integral part of song lyrics 😝

NankerPhelge · 61-69, M

@tindrummer Where did I say it wasn't?

tindrummer · M

@NankerPhelge railway station seems a better rhyme for destination than train station considering the rhythm and flow of the song

NankerPhelge · 61-69, M

@tindrummer I don't see where rhyme enters into it. Rhythm and flow, yes. Rhyme? I don't think so.

tindrummer · M

@NankerPhelge ok