Announcements on trains and at railway stations have been irritating me more than normal recently.I was warned the other day to "prepare for a full ticket examination" – whatever happened to ticket inspections? I am sure the person checking my ticket would rather be called an inspector than an examiner.
Another phrase I dislike is 'final destination'. A train has 'stops' on the way to its 'destination' – 'final destination' is just tautological.
And don't get me started on being referred to as a 'customer' rather than a 'passenger'... especially when my local railway doesn't even do so consistently. It offers me a 'passengers' charter' but calls me a 'customer' over the speaker system. Why?
2 comments:
The one I find really bizarre is "arriving into..."
If they have "passengers", it suggests they need to run trains and take people from one place to another.
If they have "customers", it suggests they only really need to sell them tickets.
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