This post is bizarre:
ON TRAVEL: Back later.
Can anyone come up with the genesis of the phrase “On Travel?” It sounds British, almost. I would probably never phrase that statement that way, instead writing something along the lines of “I am travelling: Will be back later.”
“On Travel” seems like it will be the title of a treatise on travelling, such as On Bullshit or On Power, Dissent, and Racism: A Discussion with Noam Chomsky.
Discuss.
Stormy70
On Couch. Must type in short pithy phrases. Family in town, commenting will be light. Heh.
Brandon
It does sound euro – I work with some swedes who talk about being “on holiday” (vacation).
No word is a part of speech until it appears in context. Maybe he is on an object named travel.
Reminds me of how people from the northeast insist they are “standing on line”. Are you standing ON a line painted on the floor? Are you standing ON a line of people? No, you are standing IN a line of people. Get it right.
Bob Smith
Canadians, or at least British Columbians, use the term on holiday as well. I’ve never heard anyone saying on travel, but it would appear to be a variant, eh?
John S
Ha, ha. You’ve got Chomsky on your GoogleAds.
moonbiter
“On holiday” is a phrase used in British English (or English English). European usage simply reflects the fact that many Europeans learn this version of the language as opposed to American English.
“On travel”, on the other hand, seems to be a creation of Mr. Reynolds. Although it’s ancedotal, growing up in the TN/KY/IN region I can’t say that I ever heard that term used.
Are you standing ON a line painted on the floor? Are you standing ON a line of people? No, you are standing IN a line of people. Get it right.
Well, prepositions can be extremely idiomatic in their use, and often don’t logically correspond to what you would think they would. For example, why do we agree “to” a proposal, but “with” a person, “on” a price, and “in” principal? There is often no real logic to this usage — it’s just how the language has evolved over time. So folks in the Northeast are “getting it right” in their usage — as long as everyone understands what it means, then it is by default the standard.
bev
My husband – former defense contractor employee and bonafide Midwestern American – says “on travel” in reference to business travel. I think he got it from aforementioned defense contractor engineering subculture.
Can’t believe my first post here is…idiomatic, so to speak.
Glenn Reynolds
If you’re posting on stuff like this, you need a vacation yourself, Mr. Cole . . . .