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At or on

 
 
Reply Fri 15 Sep, 2017 04:06 pm
Is it " the terror attack/incident AT Parsons Green Tube station" or "the terror attack/incident ON Parsons Green Tube station"?

If both are possible, do they mean the same thing?

If not, when should I use each of them?

Would you please give me a few examples?

Thank you.
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Type: Question • Score: 0 • Views: 461 • Replies: 14
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dalehileman
 
  -1  
Reply Fri 15 Sep, 2017 05:16 pm
@paok1970,
Well Paok there's an ever-so-slightly subtle diff. 'On' implies the station itself or parts thereof, or personnel therein, might have been involved

I hope the other fellas provide detail
centrox
 
  1  
Reply Fri 15 Sep, 2017 11:54 pm
@dalehileman,
dalehileman wrote:
'On' implies the station itself or parts thereof, or personnel therein, might have been involved

In traditional British English, people are 'on' the station when they are actually within the station, inside the ticket barriers. Trains are 'at' the station when they are calling at it.
paok1970
 
  1  
Reply Sat 16 Sep, 2017 02:41 am
@centrox,
Here are two examples from the online edition of The Independent:

Theresa May has issued a rebuke to Donald Trump, after the US President suggested the person responsible for a suspected terror attack on a London Tube train was “in the sights of Scotland Yard”.

Responding to the terror incident at Parsons Green Tube station, he said that the internet was a terrorist "recruiting tool".

Should I conclude that both prepositions ('at' and 'on') may be used interchangeably in the above examples?

Thank you.
centrox
 
  1  
Reply Sat 16 Sep, 2017 03:16 am
@paok1970,
paok1970 wrote:
Should I conclude that both prepositions ('at' and 'on') may be used interchangeably in the above examples?

You may not so conclude. The first example is about an attack on (against) something (a train). The second is about an incident at a location (in a named place) (a station).

paok1970
 
  1  
Reply Sat 16 Sep, 2017 03:21 am
@centrox,
In the sentence below, should I use 'at' or 'on'?

Theresa May and Sadiq Khan were among the first to react to the reported terrorist incidents at / on London Bridge.
0 Replies
 
centrox
 
  1  
Reply Sat 16 Sep, 2017 04:02 am
You decide. An attack at London Bridge would be an attack which happened somewhere in the district of London called London Bridge. An attack on London Bridge could either be an attack against the bridge itself (e.g. an attempt to demolish it) or an attack against something or someone else which took place on the bridge (on the road or pedestrian walkways which the bridge supports).

You need to appreciate the ambiguity of "attack on". An attack on something can be an attack directed against that thing - an attack on my reputation, on my book, on my speech, on America, on poverty, on disease, etc.


paok1970
 
  1  
Reply Sat 16 Sep, 2017 07:23 am
@centrox,
Don't you think that "incident at" and "attack on" are set expressions and, therefore, "at" is the right preposition to use in the sentence below?

Theresa May and Sadiq Khan were among the first to react to the reported terrorist incidents at London Bridge.

Thanks again for your understanding.
dalehileman
 
  -1  
Reply Sat 16 Sep, 2017 09:48 am
@paok1970,
Paok, Cen will prob prov more sensible answer but I think collo would 'on,' esp since it's actually done 'on' the span

Cen doncha agr
centrox
 
  1  
Reply Sat 16 Sep, 2017 11:05 am
@dalehileman,
dalehileman wrote:
since it's actually done 'on' the span

That's not accurate. The "London Bridge" attacks took place in two locations: one in the roadway on the bridge itself, where a van was driven at pedestrians, and subsequently, after the van crashed, when its three occupants ran to an area near the south end of the bridge and attacked people with knives. That area is part of the London business district called "London Bridge", which is a strip along the south bank of the Thames between London Bridge and Tower Bridge. Thus 'at' London Bridge is more apt because attacks took place at different locations within the district.

paok1970
 
  1  
Reply Sat 16 Sep, 2017 12:25 pm
@centrox,
Should I talk about the "London Bridge attacks" or the "London Bridge incidents"?

centrox
 
  1  
Reply Sat 16 Sep, 2017 12:36 pm
@paok1970,
paok1970 wrote:
Should I talk about the "London Bridge attacks" or the "London Bridge incidents"?

Official organisations such as the police, fire brigade, etc, tend to use professional language - 'incident' for everything from a massacre to a bicycle accident, 'casualty' for an injured or dead person (who may be called a 'fatality'). The incident was an attack, and the attack was an incident.


0 Replies
 
dalehileman
 
  -1  
Reply Sat 16 Sep, 2017 04:43 pm
@centrox,
Quote:
one in the roadway on the bridge itself,..... and subsequently....to an area near the south end of the bridge
Golly Cen dunno what we'd do 'chout ya
centrox
 
  1  
Reply Sat 16 Sep, 2017 05:12 pm
@dalehileman,
dalehileman wrote:
Golly Cen dunno what we'd do 'chout ya

You'd have to actually bestir yourselves to use Google?

dalehileman
 
  -1  
Reply Sat 16 Sep, 2017 07:13 pm
@centrox,
Quote:
use Google?
My God Cen, No; las'time I did that it took me 4 hours to find a synonym for 'synonym,' what a syn; oh, dim'
0 Replies
 
 

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