I hear and appreciate consistent use of "on" in most land acknowledgements. Thoughtfully crafted, such statements lead us to consider both the place and a longer spans of time and stewardship of the land on which we live. Let us live thoughtfully, before we in our own time become ancestors dwelling both in the ground and in the air.
Geography aside, I get “in” line at the grocery store or wherever a waiting line exists. Many people get “on” such lines. I suppose a line can be geographic, such as a state line. A people line is sort of geographic, made up of people forming a line. But I wouldn’t stand “on” those people ordinarily, would I?
Fun topic. When I was a kid, Magnolia Bluff often had houses sliding into the bay. It was pretty apparent that those houses were not longer on the Bluff. If I were to pullout a map to show visitors where I used to live, I might say that I lived here, in various places on Puget Sound. I am no sailor, but I can see if one pictures all of our local rivers flowing into the sound and if we were to enter any of those rivers at their mouth we would be moving up stream, perhaps the same is true when one thinks of entering Puget Sound from the Pacific.
18 hrs ago·edited 18 hrs agoLiked by David B. Williams
I was recently on Whidbey Island with guests from out of state. They drove onto the island via Deception Pass so it made sense to say I was down island when I arrived on the ferry
18 hrs ago·edited 18 hrs agoLiked by David B. Williams
I live on a boat at Brinnon on Hood Canal.
Liveaboards live inside their boats, mostly, but say they live on a boat.
I also live on a boat in Pleasant Harbor in Brinnon, on Hood Canal.
In today's parlance, down the Canal means south, toward Hoodsport and Alderbrook.
Up the Canal means getting out of here, toward the Bridge.
In my experience on Hood Canal there is not much feeling of being part of Puget Sound, which lies east on the other side of Kitsap Peninsula. Hood Canal is separate enough it has a distinct identity.
Not until you see everything on a map does Hood Canal look like it's part of the Puget Sound. (sorry David). Which raises the question, why not the Puget Sound? We put the in front of the oceans, The Bering Sea, The Northwest Passage, the Strait of Juan de Luca, the Salish Sea. But not in front of Admiralty Inlet or Johnstone Narrows or Seymour Narrows, but yes to the Straits of Georgia.
Tod, thanks for your thoughts. Not sure about why the just sounds so bad in front of Puget Sound? I wonder how it's done in other areas that have sound in their name? Ahh, the peculiarities and idiosyncrasies of language! David
It's all islands and peninsulas down here, and we're on 'em not in 'em.
Agreed with "the" in front of Puget Sound. It grates terribly. (Like how people insist on putting an S on the end of the name of a farm, when it's clear it's only one farm.) But why do I say "the Sound" without thinking twice? I guess it's like Mt. Rainier. "The Mount Rainier" would be stupid. "The Mountain" makes sense.
Super interesting about up-sound and down-sound. I think I was raised with cardinal directions describing different ways of going on the water. Of course, where I live on Carr Inlet, north actually does take you toward the Sound's terminus, and south toward the ocean.
What fun! It seems that most of these prepositional choices are made subconsciously according to a perception. I live on Mercer Island but as a person who has been involved with the City government as a volunteer commissioner, I have often wrangled a phrase: Are we proposing a policy on, in, or for Mercer Island (the City of)?
I hear and appreciate consistent use of "on" in most land acknowledgements. Thoughtfully crafted, such statements lead us to consider both the place and a longer spans of time and stewardship of the land on which we live. Let us live thoughtfully, before we in our own time become ancestors dwelling both in the ground and in the air.
Geography aside, I get “in” line at the grocery store or wherever a waiting line exists. Many people get “on” such lines. I suppose a line can be geographic, such as a state line. A people line is sort of geographic, made up of people forming a line. But I wouldn’t stand “on” those people ordinarily, would I?
I live in downtown Bremerton, but on the waterfront. Our Seattle little condo is on(more often)/in Greenwood (less often we say on Phinney Ridge)
Fun topic. When I was a kid, Magnolia Bluff often had houses sliding into the bay. It was pretty apparent that those houses were not longer on the Bluff. If I were to pullout a map to show visitors where I used to live, I might say that I lived here, in various places on Puget Sound. I am no sailor, but I can see if one pictures all of our local rivers flowing into the sound and if we were to enter any of those rivers at their mouth we would be moving up stream, perhaps the same is true when one thinks of entering Puget Sound from the Pacific.
I was recently on Whidbey Island with guests from out of state. They drove onto the island via Deception Pass so it made sense to say I was down island when I arrived on the ferry
I live on a boat at Brinnon on Hood Canal.
Liveaboards live inside their boats, mostly, but say they live on a boat.
I also live on a boat in Pleasant Harbor in Brinnon, on Hood Canal.
In today's parlance, down the Canal means south, toward Hoodsport and Alderbrook.
Up the Canal means getting out of here, toward the Bridge.
In my experience on Hood Canal there is not much feeling of being part of Puget Sound, which lies east on the other side of Kitsap Peninsula. Hood Canal is separate enough it has a distinct identity.
Not until you see everything on a map does Hood Canal look like it's part of the Puget Sound. (sorry David). Which raises the question, why not the Puget Sound? We put the in front of the oceans, The Bering Sea, The Northwest Passage, the Strait of Juan de Luca, the Salish Sea. But not in front of Admiralty Inlet or Johnstone Narrows or Seymour Narrows, but yes to the Straits of Georgia.
Tod, thanks for your thoughts. Not sure about why the just sounds so bad in front of Puget Sound? I wonder how it's done in other areas that have sound in their name? Ahh, the peculiarities and idiosyncrasies of language! David
Bennie Boozy! What a name!
It's all islands and peninsulas down here, and we're on 'em not in 'em.
Agreed with "the" in front of Puget Sound. It grates terribly. (Like how people insist on putting an S on the end of the name of a farm, when it's clear it's only one farm.) But why do I say "the Sound" without thinking twice? I guess it's like Mt. Rainier. "The Mount Rainier" would be stupid. "The Mountain" makes sense.
Super interesting about up-sound and down-sound. I think I was raised with cardinal directions describing different ways of going on the water. Of course, where I live on Carr Inlet, north actually does take you toward the Sound's terminus, and south toward the ocean.
What fun! It seems that most of these prepositional choices are made subconsciously according to a perception. I live on Mercer Island but as a person who has been involved with the City government as a volunteer commissioner, I have often wrangled a phrase: Are we proposing a policy on, in, or for Mercer Island (the City of)?
I like the idea of the MI City Council spending time considering a proposal as to what preposition speakers should speak when speaking about MI.