London Banter - View Single Post

Colin Rosenstiel · September 13th 04, 02:27 PM posted to uk.transport.london

In article ,
(Nick Cooper) wrote:

On Mon, 13 Sep 2004 02:03 +0100 (BST), (Colin
Rosenstiel) wrote:

Have you evidence of that last claim? All I'm aware of is that the
soubriquet "twopenny tube" was coined by a newspaper referring to the
CSLR (now the Central Line). I am not aware of evidence that there was
any previous usage of the term "tube".

Well, it's self-evident that the meaning of the term "tube" would have
to be at least vaguely familiar for calling the CLR (not the CSLR) the
"twopenny tube" to work. Logically, nobody would coin a phrase like
"twopenny tube" if they would then need to explain what a "tube" (in
that context) was. As a comparison, Dyson vacuum cleaners are _now_
marketed as, "The most powerful cyclone cylinder cleaner in the
world"; they weren't at first because nobody would have known what a
"cyclone cylinder cleaner" was!

I am aware that the CLR advertised itself as the Tube on stations. But was
that before the soubriquet was coined or after? I don't take it as
self-evident that the term was in general use.

--
Colin Rosenstiel