"Now here's the thing - Train Station"

There it was in black and white on the front of the Loughborough bus.

“Town Centre, Train Station.”

“It’s railway station,” I muttered to myself.

“Don’t be so pedantic,” I replied.

“It’s railway station,” I repeated.

When did that happen, then? Is it another Americanism? Almost certainly. Should it grate with me? Perhaps not. Language changes all the time. Words and phrases go out of fashion. Words come in from abroad and become absorbed as they always have done. Look no further than jodhpur and gateau - though not necessarily together. New words are added to official dictionaries with each new edition. Redundant words fade from use. Perhaps we should just get used to it.

If people reply that they are “good,” rather than well, when you ask after their health, is there really any need to grimace inside? If the youngsters around the table with you at the restaurant ask the waitress, “Can I get a steak?” rather than, “Can I have a steak?” it doesn’t mean that they are about to dive into the kitchen and help themselves, so does it matter?

A friend, who, though perhaps living uncomfortably close to the Welsh border for the maintenance of his own equilibrium, has been known to go off on one when he sees the direction sign welcoming car drivers to both Flint and Y Fflint. “What a waste of money, all that extra metal, paint and time paid to the sign writer; too many effing “Fs”. We know where we are effing going.” 

Specific terminology helps bind groups in the same way that language at large binds a nation [thus Y Fflint etc]. It provides a feeling of identity and common purpose. I’m perfectly OK with “railroad” as long as I’m in America, reading a book about American railways or one written by an American.

Predictable usage is familiar, reliable - even comforting - and a commonly accepted vocabulary ensures that those that share an identity in a particular area of experience - like railwayana, for example - know exactly what is being discussed. I plead only for tolerance. On a personal level, I promise to try harder to smile rather than wince at the next new fashion in words, as our very dynamic language continues to roll on.  

[Based on an earlier article which first appeared in the Railway Antiques Gazette, with thanks to the ditor, Tim Petchey]