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Why do people say.....

  • 04-01-2009 2:37pm
    #1
    steo87
    Closed Accounts Posts: 510 ✭✭✭


    Why do people say "...did you see what happened on [insert name of TV show here]?" but "did you see what happened in [insert name of film here]?" ?


Comments

  • #2
    sadista
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 346 ✭✭sadista


    Thats a good one!
    Maybe because programmes are ON the telly but movies are usually IN the cinema??


  • #3
    funloving
    Closed Accounts Posts: 396 ✭✭funloving


    because you see something IN a film as it's part of the plot and ON tv as telly is the means to spread the info

    sorry for my poor english..it's hard to explain it :confused:


  • #4
    oztots
    Closed Accounts Posts: 297 ✭✭oztots


    I'd use in for both.

    Did you see what happened on tuesday in ...?


  • #5
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    steo87 wrote: »
    Why do people say "...did you see what happened on [insert name of TV show here]?" but "did you see what happened in [insert name of film here]?" ?

    I would imagine it's a permanence issue. Programmes like Eastenders for example occupy a regular place in people's lives and people therefore use the same sentence structure as referring to a date (what happened on the 5th of September) as days are both individual unique units and permanently recurring events.

    However films would be once off events, units unto themselves. People refer to them just as they do to books. In the case of books they are literally referring to something occurring inside that book. In the case of cinema they are referring simply to the individual unit.

    Another possible explanation is the venue. The television is simply a fixture of your life and you see things on it. Cinema requires an entry to see something in it. However this is still unsatisfactory because people refer to seeing plays at the theatre. Although it is likely this could come from a tradition of open aired theatre from the Elizabethan period. It's actually a fascinating question.

    This is most likely a thoroughly unsatisfactory explanation given it would require a detailed examination of similar usage of the two expressions in other areas to gain a better understanding but meh, it's AH, what did you really expect?


  • #6
    consultech
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,956 ✭✭✭consultech


    Deleted User wrote: »
    I would imagine it's a permanence issue. Programmes like Eastenders for example occupy a regular place in people's lives and people therefore use the same sentence structure as referring to a date (what happened on the 5th of September) as days are both individual unique units and permanently recurring events.

    However films would be once off events, units unto themselves. People refer to them just as they do to books. In the case of books they are literally referring to something occurring inside that book. In the case of cinema they are referring simply to the individual unit.


    This is most likely a thoroughly unsatisfactory explanation given it would require a detailed examination of similar usage of the two expressions in other areas to gain a better understanding but meh, it's AH, what did you really expect.

    Pretty much what I was gonna write...

    Films are one-off points in time, programs are ongoing events.


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  • #7
    m3llowship
    Closed Accounts Posts: 269 ✭✭m3llowship


    The one that always got me was

    "I am in the car"

    "I am on the bus"


  • #8
    Feelgood
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,191 ✭✭✭Feelgood


    How about...

    I am in the missus

    but

    the missus is on me

    Weird ones alright...


  • #9
    Owenw
    Closed Accounts Posts: 578 ✭✭✭Owenw


    Also, TV programs trailers, continuity announcers and so forth always use the preposition "on":

    "And now ON BBC ONE..."
    "Previously ON LOST"

    whereas films are described as:

    "IN theatres now"
    "Starring Keanu Reeves IN the Matrix"

    etc...


  • #10
    amcalester
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,121 ✭✭✭amcalester


    m3llowship wrote: »
    The one that always got me was

    "I am in the car"

    "I am on the bus"

    I always put that down to a siza issue, there was a thread about it a while ago.


  • #11
    Owenw
    Closed Accounts Posts: 578 ✭✭✭Owenw


    Feelgood wrote: »
    How about...

    I am in the missus

    but

    the missus is on me

    Weird ones alright...

    Ah, but could you not also be on the missus? :p


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  • #12
    r3nu4l
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,400 ✭✭✭✭r3nu4l


    Owenw wrote: »
    Ah, but could you not also be on the missus? :p

    Yup, it's called being 'on the job' :)


  • #13
    IpreDictDeatH
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 269 ✭✭IpreDictDeatH


    Why do we say our number is o85 instead of saying 0(zero)85? Zero is the number and o is the letter. Why do we use a letter when talkng about a number? Do yanks only say zero or somthing?


  • #14
    sadista
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 346 ✭✭sadista


    IpreDictDeatH wrote: »
    Why do we say our number is o85 instead of saying 0(zero)85? Zero is the number and o is the letter. Why do we use a letter when talkng about a number? Do yanks only say zero or somthing?

    Cuz were lazy!


  • #15
    john concannon
    Closed Accounts Posts: 474 ✭✭john concannon


    Perfectionism is clearly on display in this thread


  • #16
    Epic Tissue
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,015 ✭✭✭Epic Tissue


    steo87 wrote: »
    Why do people say "...did you see what happened on [insert name of TV show here]?" but "did you see what happened in [insert name of film here]?" ?

    It doesn't really matter:eek:


  • #17
    IpreDictDeatH
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 269 ✭✭IpreDictDeatH


    john concannon wrote: »
    Perfectionism is clearly on display in this thread

    Well i think you have to strike a balance between allowing for the evolution of language and having correct rules for grammer etc,..

    Stephen Fry's latest podgram (podcast) is all about the gramatical perfectionist. Its a good listen. http://www.stephenfry.com/media/audio/109/series-2-episode-3--language/


  • #18
    ejmaztec
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 24,247 ✭✭✭✭ejmaztec


    You can be on the toilet in the toilet............................deep.


  • #19
    Feelgood
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,191 ✭✭✭Feelgood


    ejmaztec wrote: »
    in the toilet............................deep.

    Its not really that deep, about an inch and a half of water...


  • #20
    Creamy Goodness
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 26,584 ✭✭✭✭Creamy Goodness


    im on ur thred defacing in ur pointz.


  • #21
    Neamhshuntasach
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,174 ✭✭✭Neamhshuntasach


    You get into a car.
    You walk onto a bus.

    Or could be something to with you having to pay to board the bus. My Da used to be a bus driver years ago and he always said i'm in the bus. I pulled him up on that once and he said it was because he was used to driving it.


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