If I wrote a short story set in a "subway", where would you think it was set?
[The story is based in the UK]
[The story is based in the UK]
What is a Subway?
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A subway is an underground passenger railway system. I believe they have one in London--the 'Metro,' if I'm not mistaken.
So if the story is set in a subway in the U.K., I would imagine it probably taking place in the Metro in London.
So if the story is set in a subway in the U.K., I would imagine it probably taking place in the Metro in London.
SeanDSchaffer said:
Yeah, I thought that's what it meant in the USA. In the UK "Subway" is used to refer to tunnels under roads. IE, in Coventry the city centre is circled by a large dual carriageway with "subways" for pedestrians.
The "subway" in London is known as the "Underground" (Not the Metro.) The Newcastle underground is called the Metro, I believe, and Tram systems in Manchester are known as the Metro. Not sure what the Glasgow underground is called. I think it may just be called the "underground" as well! (Confusing, eh?)
The story's set in a tunnel underneath a dual carriagway running through an urban area. I'm just wondering if US editors would be confused by my use of the term "subway". Although if I make it clear what it is, maybe not.
According to Dictionary.com
- <LI type=a>An underground urban railroad, usually operated by electricity.
- A passage for such a railroad.
- An underground tunnel or passage, as for a water main or for pedestrians.
Flapdoodle said:
Thanks for clarifying that. My information about the London system was pretty much second-hand, so it would be quite prone to inaccuracy. As for tunnels under roads--here in Portland we have a couple of those. Little sidewalks that run underneath major city streets so that traffic doesn't have to stop every time someone crosses the street.
I don't know, Flapdoodle. In the U.S. we generally refer to a 'subway' only as a passenger railway that operates mostly underground.
But then again, if you make it clear, like you were saying, the editor might get it. I don't know, honestly.
I think it would also depend on where in the U.S. the editor is from. The U.S.A. is such a large land area, with so many different peoples living here, that the definitions could possibly change with the region.
For example, a Portland, Oregon, subway would be quite different from a New York, New York, subway.
SeanDSchaffer said:
Just to further confuse the situation, New York has a subway, Chicago has the "L" or El, and D.C. has a Metro.
And maybe it's because I grew up in a small state, but to me, a Subway is a fast food restaurant that sells submarine sandwiches, and has a spokesperson named "Jared."
chaostitan said:Just to further confuse the situation, New York has a subway, Chicago has the "L" or El, and D.C. has a Metro.
And maybe it's because I grew up in a small state, but to me, a Subway is a fast food restaurant that sells submarine sandwiches, and has a spokesperson named "Jared."
LOL.
Yes, we have a lot of Subway sandwich branches in the UK.
The only places in the UK with "Metro"/Undergrounds are London, Newscastle and Glasgow. A couple of other cities have one or two tram lines, but that's it. We pulled up all our tram systems in the 60s - and now they want to put them back!
Under pass, was one term I remember from Canada and the States.
Pedestrian subway and pedestrian under pass are the others.
Pedestrian subway and pedestrian under pass are the others.
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Shouldn't the story itslef make the context clear? Very few people live near a pedestrian underpass and so it would probably need to be described--just a line or two--no matter what you call it.
veinglory said:
That's what I've done.
I take if you're not in the UK? These things are everywhere here - most towns have at least a couple, and some cities are full of them. You even get them in villages occasionally. They're universally hated and considered to be the product of post-blitz town planning gone wrong... Quite a few of them are being filled in these days.
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I lived in the UK the last three years and didn't see one that I recall. It depends where you are.
veinglory said:
Odd.
I lived in a small town in Lancashire and had to go through three to get to college when I was teenager (One under a railway, two under a motorway). Also in lived in two cities, which both have plenty in the centre and suburbs.
They definitely would. U.S. readers, too. At least in large cities, "subway" means, primarily, a mass-transit system.Flapdoodle said:
chaostitan said:Just to further confuse the situation, New York has a subway, Chicago has the "L" or El, and D.C. has a Metro.
And maybe it's because I grew up in a small state, but to me, a Subway is a fast food restaurant that sells submarine sandwiches, and has a spokesperson named "Jared."
"L" and "El" means "elevated train," of course. It's usually L in Chicago, and El in New York. Such trains can be part of the subway system, though it doesn't have to be, but runs above ground on elevated rails. Both Chicago and New York have subways, and both have el trains. New York has gotten rid of most of her el trains, but there are still some. Chicago still has several. D.C. also has a subway, though not much of one, and the Metro is is just a name for a whole system of trains of all types, including subway.
But wherever you are, if you live in a city that has a subway, and you've ridden it even once, you won't have any trouble knowing what a subway is, and a sandwich won't come to mind when someone says "subway."
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Just a suggestion, but why don't you look up the webpages for the various transit commissions? They should be able to give you an idea of the individual definitions of their transit.
Here's the one from Canada: http://www.toronto.ca/ttc/history.htm (In Canada it's called the Subway system)
Here's another site which might be helpful to you: http://www.reed.edu/~reyn/transport.html
Here's a link to the London transit museum: http://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/
Here's the one from Canada: http://www.toronto.ca/ttc/history.htm (In Canada it's called the Subway system)
Here's another site which might be helpful to you: http://www.reed.edu/~reyn/transport.html
Here's a link to the London transit museum: http://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/
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Having never lived in a city with mass transit (other than buses), I've never heard the various local slang for their trains. But as an American reader, I would read "subway" and think "underground train in major city." No matter what city, or what country. FWIW
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We seem to be losing track of the fact that the feature described is *not* a train tunnel but a pedestrian underpass?
Jamesaritchie said:
Of course. I just wasn't sure if "L" or "El" was correct. As in "the L" or "the El." But now I know.
And just when I was trying to not learn new things...
Jamesaritchie said:
Wanna bet?
We call it "the T" in Boston. Once you get a certain distance outside of the city, it's just the train, though no one seems to know exactly when the entire system ceases being "the T" and morphs into the train... pretty sinister. And if you tell someone you're taking the subway (in Boston, at least), we all assume you'll be using the T. For Massachusetts, not many subways exist outside the greater Metro Boston area, but lots of train systems do.
Keep in mind, some subway systems reek of pee while others are more modern and clean. The Lechmere stop overpass of the Green line in Boston dates to 1903. Many big cities have older lines like this and won't be nearly as user-friendly or neccessarily clean as the more modern ones. Some stops on our subway are above-ground before returning to subterranean stops. And usually many different lines comprise a city's subway system; ours is broken up (and named by) a color code, Green Line, Orange Line, Blue Line, etc.
Keep in mind, some subway systems reek of pee while others are more modern and clean. The Lechmere stop overpass of the Green line in Boston dates to 1903. Many big cities have older lines like this and won't be nearly as user-friendly or neccessarily clean as the more modern ones. Some stops on our subway are above-ground before returning to subterranean stops. And usually many different lines comprise a city's subway system; ours is broken up (and named by) a color code, Green Line, Orange Line, Blue Line, etc.
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veinglory said:
No, I didn't lose track. I was merely stating that the word, to me as an American reader, means "underground train". I've never heard of an underground walkway before. Pedestrian travel in the areas where I've lived are either sidewalks alongside the roadway or covered walkways overhead.
So, the "subway" would have to be described exceedingly well, down to the width and design, for me to be able to visualize it. I have no concept of what one might look like, so I can't imagine it by the mere use of the word.
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