Wednesday, January 27, 2010

beeline

Why would anyone even try to follow "a train of thought?" Trains move fast. You couldn’t chase after it on foot. You’d need a car, although there’s probably no road alongside, so you’d need a horse, and a pretty quick one.

Doesn’t it seem like the expression would be better as “a trail of thought” or “a track of thought?” More doable and probably more interesting, too. If you see animal tracks in the snow, it makes you want to follow them, right? Which animal is it? Where does it live? Even if it’s a bird and doesn’t live on the ground, it’s still a treat to see the scrawl and imagine the hop.

But a train. I do like to see trains go by. If it's a subway train, sometimes I cover my ears.
Still, you shouldn’t follow a train, you should get on it.

Maybe the expression should be “I am on your train of thought.”
“I am comfortably seated on your train of thought.”
“Riding on your train of thought, I can see the mountains!”

12 comments:

Kass said...

I like riding the rails of your mind with you.

ron hardy said...

Having sat waiting for a 100 car train to pass or a much shorter train in reverse with the locomotive at the end I can say trains are not always fast enough for me. I guess I always thought train of thought referred to the way a person's thoughts are connected to each other in the way box cars are connected to each other. This blog is a good example of a series of connected ideas, a "train" of thoughts. And I too like riding this train or watching these boxcars pass.

SarahJane said...

Ron -
That's true. The expression probably does refer to the cars being connected and the listener or reader being able to see how they connect. Too bad that the cars of trains these days all look pretty much the same, not like the oldy days when the coal bed was hooked to the cattle car.
Maybe "the staircase of thought" would be a good one. But to ascend or to descend, that is the question.

ron hardy said...

I like this expression you've coined because it gives allowance for me to "descend" if I'm listening to a Republican getting out of control.So many people have "ADD" these days. Maybe tinkertoy of thought would work. Speaking of tinkertoys what would the german word(s) be for this concept of train of thought?. Does it combine more than two words?

SarahJane said...

The German word for "train of thought" is "der Gedankengang," a truly wonderful word. "Gedanken" are thoughts, while "Gang" is an aisle or corridor but also a gait, ie a way of walking.

A colleague, by the way, suggests that the "train" in "train of thought" comes from the French and likely doesn't originally have anything to do with locomotives, but with a retinue or the long, trailing part of a bride's gown.

S. Thomas Summers said...

Sarah,

Just heard about your Pushcart nom. I am very, very happy!

Barva!!

S. Thomas Summers said...

I mean Brava!!

Will Eastland said...

Sarah,

consider that the phrase may have arisen before the invention of the steam engine and thus the railroad as we think of it.

I know the word train has been in use for longer than the last 175 years.

Perhaps,

Will

BJeronimo said...

I am a trainspotter of your train of thought. I find it interesting seeing animal tracks in the snow and when I was younger thought I might have a talent as a pathfinder. The paths I've found do generally tend lead on that bird-like flitting. In NYC you can frequently see animal tracks in the cement in sidewalks; cats or birds generally, although not usually together.

BJeronimo said...

THe Brits use the word, trainers, as Americans use the word sneakers. I think better when wearing sneakers. Do you think the phrase, train of thought, is related in any way?

SarahJane said...

Yes, there should be a new phrase - "trainer of thought." I've lost my trainer of thought - now there's a problem.

ron hardy said...

...lost my cross-trainer of thought

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