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ESL forum >
Ask for help > difference between journey and trip
difference between journey and trip
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gharbi2009
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difference between journey and trip
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my question is whether "journey" implies any regular travel regardless of whether it is short or long and " trip" refers to an irregular travel. What confused me is that I read here a definition to a similar question and the definition suggests journey means long distance. If it is so, it is wrong to ask: How long does your journey to work take? - 5 minutes ( I don �t think it is a long distance from residence to work) . |
16 Oct 2015
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redcamarocruiser
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We don �t say� "journey to work". We say "commute to work".
journey is used as a metaphor in thoughts such as "It�s not the destination, it�s the journey."
To me "journey", when used for actual travel, sounds old fashioned or formal when used as dictionary.com defines it in http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/journey
"Trip" sounds more modern. Trip can mean a short trip to the store to shop for the week�s groceries. Or it can mean a vacation.
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16 Oct 2015
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yanogator
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I agree with Mary, and will add that to me a journey is a very formal concept, and pretty much figurative. We talk about your journey through life. A journey has a meaning to it, not just a destination. When my brother and I drove 5,000 miles from Ohio to Alaska, it was somewhat a journey, because it had adventure and brotherly bonding, but it was still more a trip than a journey. I hope you have a better understanding after our answers. Bruce |
16 Oct 2015
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ldeloresmoore
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Yep, I agree with both of these. You know, native English is going to vary from place to place. I �m from the Southern USA -- We tend to be a little prolific with speech, a bit colorful, and quite sarcastic at times. We �d probably use "journey" in a more sarcastic way -- Like, "Bobby felt like his 30 minute journey to work entitled him to be late most days." This is a sarcastic (and figurative) way to say that Bobby feels like the 30 minutes it takes him to go from his home to his work is just not reasonable, and that gives him an excuse to not arrive at work on time. But, even here, "journey" is much the same as Mary and Bruce said -- it is long, formal and difficult. |
17 Oct 2015
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spinney
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Here �s something I lifted from one of my books: We use journey to describe going from one place to another. It Is a countable noun. The journey from home to work tokes two hours. We use trip to describe a short joumey somewhere when you go for a short time and then come home. It ls a countable noun. My friend and I went on a weekend trip to Amsmdam. (Vocabualry For FCE) However, in British English there �s a little more going on than that and I think the above desciption doesn �t tell the whole story. I �ve noticed that we tend to use trip when there is an activity connceted to the journey; shopping trip, fishing trip, business trip, school trip, etc. We tend to use journey with terrestrial transport; e.g. car journey, bus journey, train journey. However, if the bus journey is in fact a coach journey and invloves stopping in different places to do different activities, then bus trip is used. Commute, in British English, used to be used only as a verb until recently. When our cousins across the pond start saying something in a particular way, we tend to follow suit, eventually. I think it �s already started to happen regarding journey, except for when we use it with terrestrial transport. I agree with Mary and Bruce that, on it �s own, we tend to think of it as a tad formal or even figurative. Travel, by the way, is an uncountable noun. I �m constantly correcting my students when they say "I have a travel tomorrow." If they say it more than three times I have to be restrained. How long does your journey take? is correct. (Did anybody notice that I said, "Used to be used?" My students hate that.)
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17 Oct 2015
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gharbi2009
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I �m grateful beyond words for your help. Despite having quite clear idea about my query thanks to your contribution, I �m wondering if American English and British will cause more confusing for learners of English as a foreign language.Could you be more generous and tell me whether ride can replace trip in some similar contexts? |
17 Oct 2015
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Jayho
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In the land downunder (where we use a mish mash of US and UK English), journey is quite formal.
We travel to work. Commute is rarely used in everyday English here, but it is well known (from US TV shows).
Our bus/car/train trip takes xx minutes.
Some people might say bus/car/train journey or bus/car/train ride (but very few, and those that do are often American).
As an aside, the laws state that if you have an accident on your journey to or from work (between work and home), you can claim for personal injury costs on your employer�s insurance. It is called a journey claim.
For a holiday, we wish travellers a safe journey/trip/holiday (we don�t use the word vacation).
Cheers
Jayho
P.S. Spinney - if the US are your cousins across the pond, what are the Aussies? |
17 Oct 2015
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gharbi2009
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Every time I read your comments, dear native speakers, I feel that I speak North African English though I have been teaching for ages. Anyway, thanks a lot for your help |
17 Oct 2015
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Tapioca
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Hi Gharbi, Yes I can understand your frustration. No language is stable - it differs over time and place. I suppose the native speakers can help by making it clear they are speaking about their own version of English. International language tests tend to indirectly push particular versions of English, but if that is not important to the learner, then effective communication is really all that matters. If you and your interlocutor share the same meaning of a word, it doesn �t matter what someone in Manchester or Dallas uses that word for :-) I must say you ask some interesting questions - many of them have made me think harder about my own mother tongue and I have learned new things in the process. So you �re doing me at least a great service and I hope you also get some interesting replies from the people who write in this forum. Tap |
17 Oct 2015
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gharbi2009
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Hi Tap, My frustration was due to a feeling of guilt: what if I taught my ex-students something wrong. We use a lot dictionaries to explain for us the use of words and expressions but I think the crucial factor in teaching is the quality of the teacher talk. We may know a lot about a language but we don �t know what we like from a language. You and others in this space offered me the opportunity to fill in that gap, even the way I teach has changed. Every time, an opportunity offers itself, I grasp it and I use your explanations in my classes. Your encouraging words restored a confidence I was about to lose. Thanks for your time and consideration Gharbi |
17 Oct 2015
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