English Grammar, Spelling and Vocabulary

[Katharine]

I'm glad I'm not the only person who goes to the pictures to see a film. I cringe if my children call it a movie. I also don't like biscuits to be called cookies either, or sweets candy. I also ask if we've received any post rather than mail.

My teenagers sadly use the word 'like' in almost every sentence, one of their teachers tried desparately hard to stop the use of the word in junior school, but sadly she was fighting a losing battle. I suppose I should be grateful they don't end every sentence with 'you know what I mean', or 'innit'

Oh yes, and it's railway station for me too Eddie. Preferably to see a steam train.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Oh yes, and it's railway station for me too Eddie.

Same here. I don't think I've heard anyone say "train station", but then I'm quite often a bit behind the times!

[Lucky Star]

[
Same here. I don't think I've heard anyone say "train station", but then I'm quite often a bit behind the times!

I've always called it a Train Station I'm afraid. That's how we referred to it in Ireland when I was growing up. I have also noticed the trend for calling films "movies". It probably does come from the use of that term on satellite television and in magazines etc. "Going to the cinema" was the term I always used although my parents always said "going to the pictures".

[Fiona1986]

I'd say 'going to the cinema' or 'to see a film', whereas my parents would say 'going to the pictures'.

I'd also say train station.... as it is the station where you catch a train

[Lucky Star]

I'd say 'going to the cinema' or 'to see a film', whereas my parents would say 'going to the pictures'.

My father would often say "going to the flicks"! I wonder if that was a peculiarly Irish thing or was that expression common in the UK too?

[Anita Bensoussane]

My mum sometimes says "going to the flicks". She grew up in Devon and Humberside/Lincolnshire.

[Fiona1986]

This conversation has put a song in my head...

"Saturday night at the movies, who cares what picture you see. When you're hugging with your baby in last row in the balcony"

[Katharine]

I've heard of the phrase 'the flicks', don't think I've ever used it myself. Does anyone call them 'the talkies'?

[Eddie Muir]

My father would often say "going to the flicks"! I wonder if that was a peculiarly Irish thing or was that expression common in the UK too?

"Going to the flicks" was an expression widely used in the areas I lived in as a child, John: both Worcestershire and Sussex.

[poddys]

I moved to the USA in 1994 and returned home 2 1/2 years ago.
With having been away for 15 years, by the time I returned I was totally confused as to what was correct for a lot of words/phrases.
I now think I speak fluent American English, but it's hard writing for both American and British audiences, and I change my spelling and words/grammar according to what I am writing. Makes me rather prone to error at times...

[Anita Bensoussane]

This conversation has put a song in my head...

"Saturday night at the movies, who cares what picture you see. When you're hugging with your baby in last row in the balcony"

Do many cinemas have balconies these days?

[Moonraker]

Do many cinemas have balconies these days?

If you mean the Circle, then in this age of muti-screen complexes, I imagine not. Out local Odeon Screen One is, in fact, the original Circle - the other screens being built in the former stalls.

Incidentally, a train is the carriages that a loco/engine pulls, hence railway station. However, as these days, loco-hauled trains are like hen's teeth (heritage lines usually), that probably doesn't count! There is also no such thing as a steam train, but there are steam-hauled trains. Calling a railway station a train station makes me bristle! Why do we need to change terms? It was never a train station until someone decided to call it so. What else can we change? We get on a plane at an airport, so why not call it a plane port?

[Katharine]

Guilty of using the phrase 'steam train'.

Does anyone say airplane instead of aeroplane?

[Lucky Star]

Guilty of using the phrase 'steam train'.

Does anyone say airplane instead of aeroplane?

I also say Steam Train. As I work in the aviation industry I say "aircraft" which is how anyone in the industry refers to them.

[Moonraker]

Of course, I also say steam train. You'd sound a bit of a geek saying, "Oh look! There's a steam locomotive-hauled passenger train over there!" However, I never say train station!