I thoroughly agree that all murderous modes of transport should be burned.
Who writes this stuff? I know I should put this in my language blog, but I was having my giggle on, & as a result of, the train, so I'm raging against the machinery that is "Sydney Trains" - until they have left-over budget to change their name again.
Arnold Schwarzenegger set the tone - a terminator is someone who kills people.
A train that terminates is not a good ting. Not only that, it doesn't die, it's just resting (like an ill parrot).
In some cases, the train isn't even really resting for very long - it turns around immediately.
The announcements at my station of a morning always say "The train arriving at platform one terminates. Please do not board this train." I do board it, because it really is the train I catch. Once the driver & guard do their little dance, this physical collection of metal on wheels "forms" the train service that goes back towards the city.
Trains that "terminate" at other stations may go off to the yards to have a longer rest, but there is nowhere else for them to go from my station - they have to go back the way they came.
Now for the second half. "Alight the train".
You can alight from a train or you can set a train alight.
Either is perfectly understandable, yet they choose to give a level of ambiguity that, in the context of an early evening passenger coming home, could easily be misconstrued.
From the point of view of a drunken teenager, it sounds more like an invitation (or a challenge).
It is no better, grammatically, to say "Please leave the train at the next station".
I know full well that I'm not going to take it with me, & I wouldn't know what to do if the train started following me home.
It would seem that the option is not mine.
I can take no active part in the relationship - the train is much bigger & stronger than me & will exert its will regardless.
In fact, its willfulness is such that, as mentioned before, it doesn't even want to be left at my station - it will sulk back to where it came from as soon as it realises that it has been left behind by all of its nice friendly passengers.
There is nothing I can do about this.
I'm sorry.
I've tried hanging about on the platform to engage the train in light conversation.
I even tried to play with the train once, but it took no interest in fetching sticks.
In fact, after a very short while, it simply ran away.
I had tried my best, but the train left first.
I hate to leave the blog without offering some solutions.
The train doesn't terminate, but "the service concludes", or else the journey ends.
There is nothing to stop someone forming a lasting relationship with the train as it makes another journey - & if you're tired, drunk, or just plain stupid, I'm sure this is an option you've taken advantage of.
Although I hate the term, the least confusion can be found in the word "de-train".
Then again, do you need to tell people both that the train has reached the end of its journey & that people should get off the train?
Is the latter superfluous?
Does it not limit one's options?
As an aside, new signs appeared at the steps & ramp of my station:
- "Please keep to the left"
- "Caution! Slippery when wet"
I got to thinking; although the first is good advice, it is either "second nature" or else is advice too easily ignored.
Either way, having a sign does nothing.
Nobody walks up to a set of stairs thinking "Which side should I walk on? I hope there's a sign to tell me!"
Useless.
The second sign, again is a nice little caution, but what's the alternative?
Do you know of any surface that gets less slippery when wet?
Therefore, again, are you supplying useful information to those who walk up to a ramp & wonder "Does this surface get slippery when wet? I hope someone can tell me! No sign! Now I'll never know!!"
Normal people know that surfaces get slippery when wet.
Abnormal people ignore signs.
Less than useless.
There is only one thing worse than these signs - to get radically off topic - the writing on the road that says "Look left" or "Look right".
There should be another sign that says "If you are reading this message written on the road, then you are probably going to be run over by a car - because you should not be looking down!"
