Language Use - What We Have In Common: Part 1

The language used in this video is NSFW or NSFS (not safe for school)

George generally made a point to talk about language or made a point to use language in the context of what we all have in common. This first real article here will deal with the USE of language we all share in common. One thing we share is we all want to look and sound important when speaking in a group of our peers.

The word "boarding"can mean to instruct people to get into an aircraft, a bus, a car, a train, or a boat. It can also refer to a living situation as in "we run a boarding house" which is a temporary living arrangement for most people. Herein, we have to be careful how we use words and make the meaning clear. Trying to sound more important and educated can result in just sounding and appearing to be unenlightened.

Next, George references "shower activity" in the context of weather reports. Turn on the weather reports sometime and you'll see TV Meteorologists use this term all the time. Really, as language usage goes, this is nothing more than a true oxymoron. Keep it simple..."showers are possible throughout the day". A rain storm or a severe weather system is not by itself an event, but CAN cause a disaster event. The proper use of the word "event" should be limited to this when in context with weather.

Next, in conjunction with severe weather capable of causing a disaster event, we will talk about the everyday use of referencing emergencies. We all understand that an emergency is a situation, but it is not an "emergency situation". An emergency situation would be a need for evacuation. No evacuation, no emergency situation. The Obama - U.S. Congress debt talks are an emergency situation!

On with our examination of the use of aviation terms! "pre-board" usually means to board those passengers who need special assistance first, or those who need extra time to become settled into their seating arrangements on an aircraft ahead of other passengers so as to avoid safety problems and time delays. Aviation professionals can just as easily use this suggested language "we would like to offer the opportunity for the boarding of passengers in need of extra assistance and those who require extra time to settle in on the aircraft." Simple, and right to the point!

Now, the use of the prefix "pre" in the english language has its place, but is often overused.

This author agrees with George on the use of the term, "get on the plane". Passengers travel IN the plane, not ON the plane! The aviation term, "non-stop" DOES have some negative implications if you stop to think about it! That flight HAS to stop somewhere at some time! This term simply means that there will be no stopping prior to arriving at the planned destination airport. Flights have been known to stop for fuel or to board other passengers in a different city.

This next use of aviation terminology by everyday people who have no idea what they are talking about is quite sensitive. Let's frame this in the context of two cars or two objects that slam into each other. The term "near miss" means that the objects actually hit each other but only almost missed. A situation that cause two objects on the same path to miss each other can be called instead, "An avoided disaster" as the proper term.

Our next aviation terms are "change of equipment" and "put your seatback forward". An aircraft is NOT a piece of equipment, it is a multimillion dollar machine whereas a wrench is a piece of equipment. "The flight will be delayed while we change aircraft due to a mechanical malfunction" is a more appropriate way of communicating. "Put your seatback forward" could just as easily be stated "we are instructing at this time that all passengers put their seat in the upright position".

We're having fun aren't we? Making fun of the language used by aviation professionals is always fun! Baggage comes in two forms, right? There is "checked baggage" and also "carry-on baggage". The industry has shortened this to "checked" and "carry on's" George's act is just capricious at this point, but also entertaining! Flight deck and cockpit are interchangeable with each other and George is just pointing out that cockpit has always had a suggestive tone to it. The aviation world and the language used is full of suggestive terms and euphemisms!

Hang around an airport and you'll hear all of them used in good adult fun with time! Euphemisms for crew members are fun, but there is a history to them! "Uniformed crew member" will evolve in time just as "hostess", "steward" and "stewardess" have evolved.

Airline safety lectures are really insulting when we look at the language. Yes, the airline employees are federally mandated to perform the safety lectures, however, does it have to be so insulting?

The rest of the act has no language value, so this article will end here.