Yesterday, I noticed a boat for sale. The name on the side was "ASSIGNMENT".
In my out-loud voice (vs the one in my head) I said, "That's a pretty clever name for a boat. You know if someone was playing hookie from work and the boss called, the person could say, 'Oh, I'm out on assignment.'"
So that lead me to think, why do people say:
"I'm ON the _____ (substitute boat, train, plane, bus, subway)."
But when it comes to cars people say:
"I'm IN the car."
I mean, I understand about being ON a boat because 9 times out of 10, it's open and you're standing/sitting on the deck. And I understand about being IN a car because it's enclosed but a train, plane, bus and subway are also enclosed and people say ON.
Any grammarians out there to answer my question?
