Word of the day: bustitution

I've made another serendipitous discovery on Wikipedia!

The noun 'bustitution' is a portmanteau of 'bus' and 'substitution', and can be used to refer to the temporary or permanent replacement of train services with bus services.

It has given rise to a transitive verb, 'to bustitute', and an adjective, 'bustituted'.

While we're on this topic, I have to say that the phrase 'rail replacement bus' annoys me. Why not 'train replacement bus'?


Is it a bus? Is it a train? Er, yes, it's a train

4 comments:

The Ridger, FCD said...

Are they combining "real" rail and light rail? Do you guys have light rail?

Andrew Orange said...

But if you had asked me to guess I would have said that bustitution was the profession of loose women who restrict their activities to above-the-waist.

JD (The Engine Room) said...

Yes, we do have light rail - perhaps most notably the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) in East London.

I'm not sure that Andrew's version of bustitution occurs on the DLR, but I wouldn't rule it out.

Apus said...

Why use 'rail' instead of 'train', JD? Maybe it's because it's the service that's being replaced, rather than the vehicle. Oh hang on, in that case they should say 'rail replacement road'. Drat.

And Ridger, JD has the DLR; down here on South Island we have retired London Underground trains running overground and some gorgeous steam trains.