Every morning on my train ride into the city, the conductor announces: “New York Penn Station will be the next and final stop.” It’s necessary to say “next” so that people know that New York is next. It’s also necessary to say “final” so that people know that there are no other stops after New York. So is there a word for next and final?
If the conductor said that this station was the penultimate station, that would signfy the next station was the final one. I can’t think of a wrod for the next and final station itself, though.
While perhaps not as clear as next and final, how about remaining?
Penultimate won’t work. People misuse this word all the time. My understanding is that ‘penultimate’ is ‘next to the ultimate’. If you want ultimate, use ultimate.
From Merriam-Webster online (just to prove the point):
One entry found for penultimate.
Main Entry: pen·ul·ti·mate
Pronunciation: pi-'n&l-t&-m&t
Function: adjective
Date: 1677
1 : next to the last <the penultimate chapter of a book>
2 : of or relating to a penult <a penultimate accent>
- pen·ul·ti·mate·ly adverb
Oh, DoH! I’m sorry guys. I didn’t quite parse pravnik’s message correctly. pravnik is absolutely right. If the current one is penultimate, then the next is ultimate.
But still, people would likely screw up the meaning of penultimate as its been misinterpreted before (I’ve seen it misused in novels and newspapers).
Hmm, sorry, can’t think of a word for next and last.
Yeesh, I know penultimate means next to last. I said penultimate won’t work.
What’s not to understand?
:smack: And of course, I post my semi-snarky reply before seeing the apology. My apology as well, William.
I nominate “shnoof”.
I nominate “shnoof”. (Yes, I made it up)
I like to repeat myself. I like to repeat myself.
Weird that the original posted though.
I wonder why it needs to be announced that station X is the final stop. Do people get on trains without a destination in mind?
Right. So how about: “The ultimate stop is [or will be] Penn Station.”
More awkward than ‘remaining’ but possibly more precise, also?
Your best bet is to assume that once you hit that “submit” button, the SDMB has received your post, regardless of whether you get a confirmation or not.
Welcome!
[sub]FTR, I like “shnoof”. But don’t you think there should be a “c” in there? “Schnoof”.[/sub]
I wonder why it needs to be announced that station X is the final stop. Do people get on trains without a destination in mind?
Perhaps, but mainly people might have been unsure as to how far this particular train runs. If someone thought it went farther down the line, he might stay on the train as it reverses direction and end up farther away from his destination than he wanted to be.
So how about : “The ultimate stop is [or will be] Penn Station.”
That doesn’t address the “next” issue. It would be true whether Penn Station was the next stop or still 5 stops away.
And Penn Station will be the last stop.
(cheating, I know, but it’s pretty close to what you want.)
Still doesn’t address the “next” issue.
Well, using the “advanced search” function in the OED didn’t turn up anything under adjectives where ‘next’ and ‘final’ appeared near each other in the definitions. I suppose you might try combining the Latin root for “next” with ‘ultimate’, but God knows if anyone would want to use it.
How 'bout, “This, last [or final] stop will be …”
I popped in to post “ultimate”. I think the word usage is correct, but would probably be misunderstood in this case. I think the “next and final stop” is probably the most clear way to state it.
If there is, then the folks at London Underground haven’t discovered it. In fact they’re even more verbose:
[adopt irritating computerised female voice] “The next station is Ealing Broadway, where this train terminates. All change, please…[pause]…Thank you for travelling on the Central Line.” Yeah, like I had a lot of choice.
(Apparently the train drivers refer to the announcer as Sonia, cos she gets Sonia nerves…)