It's not often that the transportation columnist in the Tribune writes about grammar, but here was the headline today: "CTA Riders Gripe about Grammar..."
The gripe? A sign on the CTA's Red Line reads, "Let the passengers alight the train before you board." The writer (an associate director and registrar at the English Language Academy at DePaul University) says, "Alight may be a verb to describe transit, but not a transitive verb. It can't take a direct object. Perhaps drivers could substitute 'depart' or 'leave' in place?"
Thoughts?
I did like the columnist's comment at the end, "If CTA President Forrest Claypool fails to nip this problem in the bud, next thing you know, train operators will be showing off even more by announcing, 'Mind the gap'."
alight, v.1 II. To descend, fall, or land. 2.intr.
a. With from, off, †of. To get down from a horse, to dismount; to descend or get down from (or out of) any means of transport.
OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) xxvii. 408 Ic geseah þurh Godes gast, þa se þegen alihte of his cræte & eode togeanes þe.
lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1123 Se kyng alihte dune of his hors & alehte hine [sc. the bishop] betwux his earmes.
c1300 (▸?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Otho) (1978) 13145 Adun hii gonne a-lihte of hire gode stedes.
c1300 Life & Martyrdom Thomas Becket (Harl. 2277) (1845) l. 1895 Of his palefrai he aliȝte adoun.
▸ a1393 Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) i. l. 2227 (MED), I doun fro my Charr alihte.
a1450 (▸c1410) H. Lovelich Hist. Holy Grail xxv. l. 151 He ne dorste..Owt of his Sadil Alyhte.
1477 Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre Hist. Jason (1913) 13 Peleus and Iason were alighted from their hors.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 420/2, I alight downe of a horse.
1578 T. Nicholas tr. F. Lopez de Gómara Pleasant Hist. Conquest W. India [/i]321 And he alyghting from his horse.
1608 T. Dekker Lanthorne & Candle-light vii. sig. F3v, He that neuer alights off a rich Farmer or countrie Gentleman, till he haue drawne money from him.
1686 tr. J. Chardin Trav. Persia (1927) 85 The Ambassador of the Lesqui did not alight from his Horse.
1704 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion III. xiv. 404 His Majesty alighted out of his Coach.
1762 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy V. xxix. 103 Making as if he would have alighted from off his horse,..he was poising himself on the mounting side.
1857 Dickens Let. 12 Sept. (1995) VIII. 444 Station-masters assist him to alight from carriages.
1863 A. Jameson [i] Legends Monastic Orders (ed. 3) 36 The emperor has just alighted from his charger.
1937 New Yorker [/i]13 Nov. 28/2 The car from which he alighted out of the midnight train was the farthest from the station.
1962 Coast to Coast 1961–2 72 The cameras zoomed to a middle-aged man alighting from an inter-urban Hovercraft.
1997 ‘Q’ Deadmeat 274 A couple were alighting from a black cab.
b. Without construction. To get down from a horse or other means of transport; (hence) to finish one's ride, to stop.
[OE Ælfric Lives of Saints(Julius) (1900) II. 160 Hi..ridon ofer twelf mila to Rodan þæra ea, and þær gelihton sona, for ðam langsumum færelde.]
c1175 (▸OE) Ælfric Lives of Saints (Cambr. Ii.1.33) (Dict. Old Eng. transcript) (1900) II. 150 Hwæt ðe casere ða caflice alyhte [OE Julius lihte] þancigende Gode þære wissunge.
c1275 (▸?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 13285 Heo letten alle þa horsmen i þan wude alihten [c1300 Otho a-lihte].
c1300 (▸c1250) Floris & Blauncheflur (Cambr.) 21 (MED), At þe selue huse hi buþ aliȝt Þat blauncheflur was þat oþer niȝt.
a1375 William of Palerne (1867) l. 3923 He a-liȝt, & wiȝtli to william his wepun vp to-ȝelde.
c1405 (▸c1395) Chaucer Clerk's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 981 Abouten vndren gan this Erl alighte.
1480 Cronicles Eng. (Caxton) ccxliiij. sig. t7v, They come ridyng thurgh the cite of london vn to seint Poules and there they alight.
1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. f. cxl/2, And assoone as he sawe the princes baner, he alyghted & wente thyder.
1590 Spenser Faerie Queene i. xii. sig. M2v, Fast before the king he did alight.
1598 R. Barret Theorike & Pract. Mod. Warres iv. 101 That if occasion be offered, euery mounted souldier may alight.
1600 Shakespeare Merchant of Venice ii. ix. 85 Madame, there is a-lighted at your gate A young Venetian.
1678 Young Man's Calling 364 She was fain to alite under a hedge, and there to trim her self as well as she could.
1741 S. Richardson Pamela III. xxxvii. 351 We alighted, and walked a little Way.
1792 H. H. Brackenridge Mod. Chivalry I. i. 18 Coming to a small cottage, he stopped a little, to alight and dress the wound.
1824 T. F. Dibdin Libr. Compan. 224 He happens to alight at an inn.
1872 H. I. Jenkinson Guide Eng. Lake District (1879) 200 On alighting at the Threlkeld station cross the line.
1910 A. G. Morice Hist. Catholic Church Western Canada I. xviii. 295 He rode on all day; but when he alighted, he could not stand up: both his feet were frozen.
1972 J. Potter Going West 17 Transit passengers were encouraged to alight for the stopover.
2004 D. Lodge Author, Author ii. vi. 157 One boarded a train at Victoria or Waterloo station and two or three days later alighted in some warm historic southern city.
Yes. The first time I heard it was when I was in London - and I thought it was so cute. We'd say something more like, "Be careful, stupid!" Thus the showing off comment.
