I CAUGHT myself nodding in sympathy reading Colin Foster’s letter about the growing influence of Americanisms on English, presumably due to the prevalence of US media (HAS, Sept 2).
Some of the expressions I find irksome are “horse-back riding” (which, given enough time, will presumably develop further into “horse-back-on-top-facing-forwards-holding-on riding”) and the pronunciation “kay-nine” instead of “can-nine” for canine (though we really have Doctor Who to thank for that one).
Regarding “train station”, surely “station” is sufficient? Unless you specify otherwise, ie bus station, fire station, power station, radio station, action stations, etc, a station is where you go to catch a train.
Tim Ruffle, Chilton
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