"At this time..." AAAAUUUUGGGHHHH!
 

maybe it's just me...

has anyone else ever noticed that 90% of all airline announcements begin with, "At this time?" I did a trip last week, AUS to SAN and back, and i sorta counted. i heard it roughly 37 times. im not kidding. it doesnt even make sense! at this time - is that an instant? what interval of time? are other messages full of time-delay instructions? its not like i hear, "in ten minutes, you will get a soda, in five minutes we will take off, at this time, buckle your seat belt." why not just say, "ladies and germs, please fasten your seatbelts?"

to keep ths on topic, i earned a TON of miles on that trip. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

Many in-flight announcements are gobbledygook of various kinds. For instance, Delta repeatedly tells passengers to put their personal electronic devices in the "off position." Isn't "turn them off" good enough?

On a recent United flight, the FA making the announcements was both articulate and humorous. It was a pleasure listening to her. Unfortunately, such experiences are too rare.

Bruce

One of my favorites I hear all the time, “On behalf of myself and [Airline X] I’d like to welcome you to [destination Y].” On behalf of myself?!?! Must be many schizophrenic flight attendants.

Interesting reinterpretation of parsing when the flight attendants' announcements go, "AT THIS TIME... please make sure that your seat backs and tray tables are in their full, upright, and locked positions..."

Anyone care to tell me what the "full" position of a tray table or seat back is?

And shouldn't "full," as an adverb, be "fully"? I remember looking at a script booklet on an airplane before, and sure enough, the booklet itself had printed "'full' upright." You figure the ones who are in charge of writing/proofing/signing off on these things would have some semblance of a grasp of standard grammar.

Not hankering for a fight, or criticising (except maybe the booklet-writing aspect).

I'm glad I'm not the only one who is irritated by these types of things! So many "official" announcements--especially those coming from the government--contain an amazing number of grammatical mistakes, contorted phrasings and pseudo-legalistic language. I can hear my 10th grade English teacher now: Just say what you mean, clearly and concisely!!!

Sorry, to get this back on topic: I took a quick trip to SLC last weekend and also got a TON of miles!




[This message has been edited by stephlac (edited 12-11-2001).]

This thread is very funny!

I like the "full, upright and locked position."

Speaking of which, don't you love the part where they say to "insert the metal fitting into the buckle?" Is there anyone on Planet Earth that doesn't know how to put on a seatbelt???

I always think of the dental term, buccal, which is the surface of the tooth that faces the cheeks, so you are supposed to insert the seat belt into your mouth http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

And how about when they talk about "deplaning?" Has anyone ever tried to debus, decar, deboat or detrain? Or, for that matter, debike, decart or dehorse? (No comments about putting decart before dehorse, please.) Who invented this non-word?

But, "deplane" must be a word. Remember fantasy island? "Deplane, deplane!"

I remember reading once that some person proposed forming a startup airline. He was going to name it "At this time airways" - just so those FA's and gate agents would have to rephrase their inane announcements so as not to give the cometition a free mention....

While everyone apparently understands how to fasten a seatbelt, trust me when I say I've seen people who couldn't unfasten themselves from it.

They just feel the buckle all over, top and bottom, trying to find the button to release the belt. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Seriously though, I prefer disembark. Deplane is better than "deboard," however.

to take this way off topic...

I once had a FA ask me to fasten my seatbelt while still parked at the gate...I reply, "you haven't shown me how to yet" (it had been a long week)...she didn't have a reply, but from the look on her face it was one of- fasten the belt of get off the plane kinda thing...it was worth it though!

My favorite is:

In the event of a water landing . . .

Uh, in the event that this 757 ends up in the drink, its going to be a crash, not a landing.

I had a delightful FA on a flight to PHL on Saturday. He greeted our landing with, "It is USAirways' pleasure to welcome you to Philadelphia -- the city that loves ya back!" (Paraphrasing Philly's tourism slogan.) He ended with "Thank you for choosing to Fly the Flag -- USAirways."

Cute, Richard! I thought of this too! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif