"The next stop will be..."

[ollyexe2808]

Have you deliberately included question marks at the end of statements to irritate those who are highly offended by such things? If not, I envy your indifference and tolerance of such abominations!

Perhaps you elevate the pitch of your voice at the end of spoken statements, make them sound like questions too. This has annoyed a large number of people for a long time. I don't believe I've witnessed the habit in either recorded or manual train announcements but maybe it happens? That was deliberate on my part by the way, as a way of inviting a reaction. Quite hideous.

Haha, well yes I will occasionally use question marks in informal statements like this to add to a point I am unsure about. I believe there are several names for this phenomenon including the "Australian Lift" which adds an inflection to the end of sentences to make everything sound like a question.

It is interesting. As language changes, so will our phrasing, inflections and other linguistic qualities. When I am standing at a train station thinking about how there are less trains then there were yesterday and a voice comes over the tannoy to says "your next train to Exeter departs from Platform 2", this is all fine. After all, being a pedant depends on how far back in our language we are going - the great vowel shift or back to Old English sentence structure perhaps.

Why could be clearer is what announcements are made and why. Announcing the train doors that will open would definitely be useful (as per previous comments) but I recognise that our infrastructure means this can be problematic at many stations. If there was a way to do it though, how fantastic it would be!

 

[ComUtoR]

Noting that it's normal practice in Germany to press the open button on approach so the doors open as soon as the wheels stop. That'd never be accepted here in 2023.

There is some stock where the doors would open whilst the train is still moving.

 

[BluePenguin]

Living in the north I do kind of miss the manual guard announcements on Northern Trains rather than a loud computerised voice. Gets a bit repetitive hearing “the next station is..” “This is…” and “when leaving the train here, please mind the gap between the train and platform edge” every two minutes.

Although sometimes on a pacer you could barely hear what the guard was saying because the microphones weren’t very clear and the train was too loud!

At least CrossCountry has manual announcements and operate in the North so you could opt for them if you want to hear some.

Unfortunately, they are not very concise and as their staff like to ramble on for several minutes about catering, ticket restrictions and lots of other waffle - as opposed to stating where the train terminates and reading out the list of stations, which is all you need.

 

[trebor79]

Avoid Cardiff Central then. If they switch to manual announcements you are likely to be told that the next train on platform 6 is"your Bargoed" etc

There's a guy at Peterborough announces like that too, and has a particularly irritating way of speaking to boot.

 

[BluePenguin]

There's a guy at Peterborough announces like that too, and has a particularly irritating way of speaking to boot.

Sounds terribly annoying, at least it is not one of those annoying wannabe rapper types like in London who stand on platforms with microphones bellowing “this train is ready to depart, mind the doors, mind the closing doors”. The ones at Heathrow doe even worse still

 

[BJames]

How many platform alterations on the underground?

Earl's Court District.

Also, interestingly, Seven Sisters - we pulled into Platform 4 (the platform usually only used for staff trains and terminating) - not sure if there are any booked workings but I realised following this that the announcements on board do not tell you 'Doors will open on the Right Hand side' on Victoria Line northbound services. They do tell you that doors will open on the left when the train is terminating though.

 

[PacerTrain142]

At least CrossCountry has manual announcements and operate in the North so you could opt for them if you want to hear some.

Unfortunately, they are not very concise and as their staff like to ramble on for several minutes about catering, ticket restrictions and lots of other waffle - as opposed to stating where the train terminates and reading out the list of stations, which is all you need.

I actually quite like the long announcements on Cross Country, as well as the tone that plays before the announcements. Kind of makes you feel like you're on a plane.

 

[BluePenguin]

Interesting discussion because it has never been an issue for me personally, nor an area of ambiguity. Then again, I am not a grammar pedant - as long as it communicates the point, then I am indifferent. I am one of those people that says Train Station (didn't know some people prefer Railway Station?) And five items or less at a supermarket.

I wonder if some of it (particularly the automation of announcements) is just down to evolving language use?

What do you mean by five items or less at the supermarket? I am very confused by this sentence as it doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the paragraph. Please explain

 

[adam_haddad40]

Keeping it simple is definitely best.
TW Metro
“Next station is X”
“This is X”

The only annoyance is
“This is X. Please take extra care when using the level crossing”

 

[Joe Paxton]

Noting that it's normal practice in Germany to press the open button on approach so the doors open as soon as the wheels stop. That'd never be accepted here in 2023.

I don't quite comprehend... what exactly is it that wouldn't be accepted here?

 

[61653 HTAFC]

* On some stock "bong" at major stations is replaced by the first bar or two of the Bundesland's anthem, changing as you cross borders, which is a nice quirk.

That approach would never work here, I can just imagine:
**first few notes of "On Ilka Moor Baht'at"**
"T' next station is 'Ebden Bridge. Cheers for travelling wi' Northern. Mind y' coit!"
Then, a few minutes later:
**first few notes of "Ilka Moor" again**
"T' next station is Todmudden..."

**awkward silence**

***War of the Roses kicks off again***

 

[lxfe_mxtterz]

What do you mean by five items or less at the supermarket? I am very confused by this sentence as it doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the paragraph. Please explain

I understood that as, whereas the grammatically correct terminology would be "five items or fewer", he tends to say "five items of less".

 

[The exile]

I understood that as, whereas the grammatically correct terminology would be "five items or fewer", he tends to say "five items of less".

Indeed - if you count it (ie “items”, “bags of sugar”, “bottles of wine”) it’s fewer. If you measure it (“time”, “sugar”, “wine”) it’s less. At least this is only a minor irritant and doesn’t actually obscure or change the meaning, unlike so many other errors.

 

[eldomtom2]

* On some stock "bong" at major stations is replaced by the first bar or two of the Bundesland's anthem, changing as you cross borders, which is a nice quirk.

Japan has done this to a much greater extent - in major cities each station will have its own jingle, often composed by well-known pop songwriters.

 

[Wilts Wanderer]

There is some stock where the doors would open whilst the train is still moving.

It was fairly normal in the U.K. too, even with the introduction of power door stock. I saw a YouTube video recently of something around 1989-90, a super-sprinter arrives at the platform next to the cameraman (either 155 or 156, I can’t recall) and the passenger doors are opening while the train is still in the process of stopping from 2-3mph to zero.

 

[Jimini]

"We are now arriving into..."

 

[D6130]

I have always found the auto-announcer on Northern's class 333 units annoying and confusing....especially at the last stop before the train's terminating point. Imagine the scenario at Cononley on a Skipton-bound train. Approaching the station, the system announces 'The next station is Cononley'. So far, so good. As soon as the train comes to a stand and the doors are released, the system announces 'Welcome to the Skipton train. The next station is Skipton.This train terminates here. Please take all your belongings with you'. Cue mad panic amongst a family of foreign tourists heading for Skipton, who scrabble to gather their baggage together and bale-out onto the platform just before the doors close....only to discover too late that they now have a quarter hour - or sometimes half hour in the current timetable - for the next train to Skipton. Surely it would be better to say 'The next station is Skipton, where this train terminates'?

 

[AlbertBeale]

Indeed - if you count it (ie “items”, “bags of sugar”, “bottles of wine”) it’s fewer. If you measure it (“time”, “sugar”, “wine”) it’s less. At least this is only a minor irritant and doesn’t actually obscure or change the meaning, unlike so many other errors.

A few years back, after I ignored a "5 items or less" sign at a local shop on the grounds that it made no grammatical sense, the cashier refused to serve me; I refused to go to a different till. A manager turned up and said the sign didn't matter because "these words all mean the same thing". So I asked him wherher he was one of the few intelligent managers at that store or one of the less intelligent managers at that store. I got my groceries.

 

[zwk500]

What do you mean by five items or less at the supermarket? I am very confused by this sentence as it doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the paragraph. Please explain

Strictly speaking, Grammar pedants will say it should be five items or fewer, as more/less is used for continuous quantities that you measure out, while greater/fewer is used for discrete quantities you count. However the use of 'less' instead of 'fewer' still communicates the intended meaning of the fast lane clearly to 100% of the audience. So whether 'less' is wrong or not in that context depends partly on whether you consider language to be defined primarily by formal rules very few bothered remembering, if they were even taught them (who/whom anybody?), or to be defined by it's function - anything can be correct so long as the intended meaning is clearly conveyed and understood by the audience.

 

[PacerTrain142]

Wow a lot of grammar nazis on this thread. As long you get what it means, does it really matter how it’s phrased? “next station is”, “the next station is” “the next station stop is”, “the next station call is” “we will shortly be arriving at“ all means the same thing.

It was fairly normal in the U.K. too, even with the introduction of power door stock. I saw a YouTube video recently of something around 1989-90, a super-sprinter arrives at the platform next to the cameraman (either 155 or 156, I can’t recall) and the passenger doors are opening while the train is still in the process of stopping from 2-3mph to zero.

I’m surprised the train would let the guard open the doors before the train had stopped. But I recently saw a YouTube video where doors on a London Underground train opened just before stopping. And another video where a LU train was travelling with the doors open!

 

[LYRobert]

Indeed - if you count it (ie “items”, “bags of sugar”, “bottles of wine”) it’s fewer. If you measure it (“time”, “sugar”, “wine”) it’s less. At least this is only a minor irritant and doesn’t actually obscure or change the meaning, unlike so many other errors.

The 'er' ending of "Fewer" changes the word 'few' into 'more few'. Two ideas but going in opposite directions. Never liked it and like it even less now. And, in this context, what's wrong with "Less" anyway? And whilst we're at it, "Few" is singular "There IS a few passengers on the platform". A few. Just the one few. Singular!

It was fairly normal in the U.K. too, even with the introduction of power door stock. I saw a YouTube video recently of something around 1989-90, a super-sprinter arrives at the platform next to the cameraman (either 155 or 156, I can’t recall) and the passenger doors are opening while the train is still in the process of stopping from 2-3mph to zero.

Eee, lad - tha should a' travelled on't Bury electrics int thold days. I've gone all't way fra Bury Bolton street ter Manchester on one o them old L&Y units wi't doors open all't way!

 

[D6130]

Eee, lad - tha should a' travelled on't Bury electrics int thold days. I've gone all't way fra Bury Bolton street ter Manchester on one o them old L&Y units wi't doors open all't way!

According to old hand Skipton drivers of my acquaintance - who used to regularly travel passenger on the old Lancaster-Morecambe-Heysham EMUs - a similar situation appertained on that line too!

 

[zwk500]

A few years back, after I ignored a "5 items or less" sign at a local shop on the grounds that it made no grammatical sense, the cashier refused to serve me; I refused to go to a different till. A manager turned up and said the sign didn't matter because "these words all mean the same thing". So I asked him wherher he was one of the few intelligent managers at that store or one of the less intelligent managers at that store. I got my groceries.

What a point to choose to make, at what a time, and in what a way! I also appreciate the irony of the typo.

And whilst we're at it, "Few" is singular "There IS a few passengers on the platform". A few. Just the one few. Singular!

According to https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionar...1#:~:text=/fjuː/-,/fjuː/,small number', 'some' (I don't have a proper OED account) few takes plural nouns, not singular.

 

[12LDA28C]

According to https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/few_1#:~:text=/fjuː/-,/fjuː/,small number', 'some' (I don't have a proper OED account) few takes plural nouns, not singular.

There are a few people posting in this thread who are unaware of this...

 

[PacerTrain142]

According to old hand Skipton drivers of my acquaintance - who used to regularly travel passenger on the old Lancaster-Morecambe-Heysham EMUs - a similar situation appertained on that line too!

Did Lancaster to Heysham used to be electrified?

 

[Merle Haggard]

Being pedantic perhaps but two common announcements that grate with me are :

'This trains is now approaching Euston'. Why wait until the last minute before telling us? it's been approaching Euston since it started its journey.

'Next fastest train to ...'. 'Fastest' is a superlative and there can only be one. At Northampton, it is currently used to describe trains that call at almost every station and halt to Birmingham, and one might hope (perhaps forlornly) that, one day in the distant future, there may be a single train that will be a little less slow and tedious.

 

[fairysdad]

If we're adding needless pedantry...

"Welcome aboard the Southern service to London Victoria."

So this is the only one is it? "... this Southern service..." is what it should be.

 

[PGAT]

It doesn’t flow as well

 

[Siemens Trains]

Being pedantic perhaps but two common announcements that grate with me are :

'This trains is now approaching Euston'. Why wait until the last minute before telling us? it's been approaching Euston since it started its journey.

'Next fastest train to ...'. 'Fastest' is a superlative and there can only be one. At Northampton, it is currently used to describe trains that call at almost every station and halt to Birmingham, and one might hope (perhaps forlornly) that, one day in the distant future, there may be a single train that will be a little less slow and tedious.

Must admit I don't know what 'next fastest' actually means and haven't heard it announced. However in the railway context 'fast' seems to be another way of describing a train that doesn't stop at a station, rather than an indication of its relative speed. At stations I sometimes hear an automated warning to stand clear of the platform edge because a 'fast' train is approaching. Only for a few carriages to trundle through at a snail's pace.
So would next fastest mean the train which observes the second fewest number of stations?

 

[D6130]

Did Lancaster to Heysham used to be electrified?

Yes....from 1908 to 1966. Lancaster Castle-Lancaster Green Ayre (reverse)-Scale Hall-Torrisholme-Morecambe Promenade (reverse)-Heysham.