Originally Posted by
edi-traveller
Driven almost to the point of a rant by a thread in TravelBuzz which uses the dreadful non-word "de-board" I wonder what people think of these awful words.
I thought de-plane was bad enough - but de-board!!!
Interestingly enough if you try Googling "de-plane" the first result is a quote from the old TV series Fantasy Island where Mr Rourke's little dwarf assistant Tattoo rings the bell and shout "De Plane.....De Plane......"
What the hell is wrong with disembark or get off?
Disembark has a nautical flavor, it's origin apparent in the last syllable, "bark", a steal from the sea, "ship" in several ancient dialects, and still around as barquentine and barq. "Board" of course has equally nautical origin, walking across a "board" streched from land to ship.
Deplane, whether by Tattoo or not, describes what's actually happening, and firts well with the old standy, rarely heard, these days, "emplane".
"Emplane" and "deplane" are appropriate and descriptive, brief and clear.
But then I'm one of those quirky former naval persons who insists that one assigned to a ship's crew serves "in" the ship, not "on" it, a status reserved for passengers, etc.