# UK, especially London, dopers: Is “alight” common usage? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 24, 2024, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-especially-london-dopers-is-alight-common-usage/998016 "2024-02-24T09:19:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2024, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-especially-london-dopers-is-alight-common-usage/998016/1 "2024-02-24T09:19:39Z")
PA announcements on the tube use the verb “alighting” for leaving the train. I know what the word means, but it sounds old-fashioned and formal to me (as a non-native speaker). Is it common parlance? E.g., if you had to give instructions to a close friend, would you say something like “Alight at xyz station”, or would you use a sloppier word (like “get off” or something similar) for this? Don’t need answer fast. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2024, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-especially-london-dopers-is-alight-common-usage/998016/2 "2024-02-24T09:53:32Z")
I find it hard to imagine anyone saying _“Alight at xyz station”_ except , possibly, in some attempt at irony. Officialese often tries to be more precise than common parlance, so I imagine that someone at TFL thought that “Alighting” sounded better than “getting off” or “leaving”. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2024, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-especially-london-dopers-is-alight-common-usage/998016/3 "2024-02-24T10:04:11Z")
No, ‘alight’ is not ‘common parlance’. But railway announcements in the UK often have their own syntax, such as ‘where this train will terminate’, ‘mind the gap’, ‘apologies for any inconvenience caused’, and so on, none of which are really ‘common parlance’ . (what gap? How should I ‘mind’ it?). But over 200 years of railway travel (it is the bicentenary next year, 2025) these announcements have converged on a common form, with a certain amount of economy of words and meaning, and most people can understand them. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2024, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-especially-london-dopers-is-alight-common-usage/998016/4 "2024-02-24T11:25:31Z")
> [@eburacum45](#): > > mind the gap I would thank you for not using [that kind of language](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516) outside the pit! ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2024, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-especially-london-dopers-is-alight-common-usage/998016/5 "2024-02-24T12:21:58Z")
The (relatively recent) usage that irritates me is “our next station stop”. Transport authorities have a formal language of their own. I once saw a notice on the Paris Metro which included the requirement that passengers should “obtempérer aux injonctions” of Metro staff (=“do as you’re told”). ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2024, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-especially-london-dopers-is-alight-common-usage/998016/6 "2024-02-24T12:22:21Z")
I’d say it is standard british english, but rather old fashioned and not used much in everyday speech nowadays. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2024, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-especially-london-dopers-is-alight-common-usage/998016/7 "2024-02-24T13:43:52Z")
> [@eburacum45](#): > > ‘mind the gap’ That one seems colloquial to me. If someone was following me and I had to step across a gap (like the classic situation in the curved Underground station) I could turn and say that while pointing down. And I’d use “mind” in other situations as a synonym for “be careful of”. And now (give @Darren_Garrison’s link) I’m wondering if using “mind” like that would be understood in American as meaning “be careful of”? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2024, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-especially-london-dopers-is-alight-common-usage/998016/8 "2024-02-24T14:07:29Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > And now (give @Darren_Garrison’s link) I’m wondering if using “mind” like that would be understood in American as meaning “be careful of”? ⁢ We do have “mind your step,” to mean to be careful while stepping and (less commonly IME) “mind your head” to warn that a ceiling is low and you mind bump into it, so I never had any trouble understanding “mind the gap.” ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2024, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-especially-london-dopers-is-alight-common-usage/998016/9 "2024-02-24T14:12:32Z")
> [@eburacum45](#): > > ‘where this train will terminate’ Although “terminate” is not an everyday word, I’d certainly use it for the specific purpose of distinguishing the endpoint of a route from an intermediate stop. I can’t think of any _other_ way of saying it. “Should I stay on this train?” “No, it terminates here.” ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2024, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-especially-london-dopers-is-alight-common-usage/998016/10 "2024-02-24T14:19:39Z")
“End”, perhaps? Although I partially agree, I don’t find “terminate” in this instance particularly formal. Certainly less so than “alight”. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2024, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-especially-london-dopers-is-alight-common-usage/998016/11 "2024-02-24T14:25:46Z")
I’ve always hated that usage. The train does not terminate. The route does. “The route terminates here” “this is the terminus” “this is the end of the line” ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2024, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-especially-london-dopers-is-alight-common-usage/998016/12 "2024-02-24T14:30:55Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > The train does not terminate. The route does. Prescriptivist claptrap. ETA: a quick google - every dictionary definition I can find has the usage of a train/bus terminating, and none have the less common “the route terminates”. Colloquially I don’t think I’d even say “the route terminates” at all, I’d just say the “the route ends here”. There’s no ambiguity for a route. While a train can either make an intermediate stop or terminate, a route can only end. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2024, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-especially-london-dopers-is-alight-common-usage/998016/13 "2024-02-24T14:32:02Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > “this is the terminus” The Toronto subway says “this is a terminal station” which is not a phrase I would use in casual conversation. I think they also say “exit the train” (rather than “alight”). ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2024, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-especially-london-dopers-is-alight-common-usage/998016/14 "2024-02-24T14:54:39Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > The (relatively recent) usage that irritates me is “our next station stop” I always assumed that was to avoid confusion, since “next station” could mean a station the train passes without stopping (and “next stop” could mean a stop the train makes between stations). Cf. _The Goon Show_: Conductor: Where did you get on? Seagoon: Curse, the game’s up. Well now, er… what was that last station? Conductor: Fung Junction. Seagoon: That’s it! That’s where I got on! Conductor: But we didn’t stop there! Seagoon: Do you think it was easy? ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2024, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-especially-london-dopers-is-alight-common-usage/998016/15 "2024-02-24T15:17:38Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > We do have “mind your step,” to mean to be careful while stepping and (less commonly IME) “mind your head” to warn that a ceiling is low and you mind bump into it, so I never had any trouble understanding “mind the gap.” Also, “mind your manners.” ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2024, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-especially-london-dopers-is-alight-common-usage/998016/16 "2024-02-25T18:11:44Z")
> [@eburacum45](#): > > No, ‘alight’ is not ‘common parlance’. > But railway announcements in the UK often have their own syntax, such as ‘where this train will terminate’, ‘mind the gap’, ‘apologies for any inconvenience caused’, and so on, none of which are really ‘common parlance’ . Yes, +1 ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2024, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-especially-london-dopers-is-alight-common-usage/998016/17 "2024-02-25T19:33:28Z")
> [@eburacum45](#): > > No, ‘alight’ is not ‘common parlance’. Have you never seen an “alighting only” sign?? [![](https://www.londonreconnections.com/wp-content/uploads/Charing-Cross-Platform-3-Alighting-only-notice-300x169.jpg) ](https://www.londonreconnections.com/wp-content/uploads/Charing-Cross-Platform-3-Alighting-only-notice-300x169.jpg) [![](https://i.redd.it/i1qz8pj5phf61.jpg) ](https://i.redd.it/i1qz8pj5phf61.jpg) Don’t know if it is “common parlance”, but it appears on [the English text of] public transport signs all over the world. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2024, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-especially-london-dopers-is-alight-common-usage/998016/18 "2024-02-26T17:33:54Z")
I have never seen it in the US. And I’ve seen lots of places where public transit tried to separate those entering from those leaving, like the shuttle train at the Tampa airport. ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2024, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-especially-london-dopers-is-alight-common-usage/998016/19 "2024-02-28T22:33:47Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > I’ve always hated that usage. The train does not terminate. The route does. Not true. A particular train can and frequently does terminate before the end of the line. If you want to continue your journey, you can transfer to a different one. ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2024, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-especially-london-dopers-is-alight-common-usage/998016/20 "2024-02-28T22:47:19Z")
> [@eburacum45](#): > > (what gap? How should I ‘mind’ it?). The gap: [https://citytransport.info/Digi/2946a.jpg](https://citytransport.info/Digi/2946a.jpg) The Central Line stop at Bank is on a tight curve, resulting in a significant gap that could probably fit a small child. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-especially-london-dopers-is-alight-common-usage/998016.md?page=2)