Ranting time

I haven't had a good rant in ages, so here goes.

I have nothing against Americans as individuals or even, sometimes, in small groups. Indeed, I'm very happy to call some Americans friends. Of course, most of them can't help being American, their place of birth being the fault of their parents. I don't even mind them mangling the English language the way they do. But I do wish they would keep it to themselves.

There was a time, not so very long ago, when an Englishman who wanted to catch a train would go to the railway station. In this country, stations on railways have always been called railway stations, unless they were wayside halts; we used to have a few of those as well. But the vast majority of the places where trains stopped were called railway stations. Now, all of a sudden, people are calling them train stations, a phrase which has, I believe, been imported from the colonies. Yes, I know it's logical. We do have bus stations and coach stations, not road stations, so the logical extension is to call railway stations, train stations. But it still grates on my ear.