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English is weird

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Papersatan:
I use all of these words, but with slightly different meanings.

Catching the bus is the act of getting to the bus stop on time.  "Sorry, I can't hang out and talk I have to catch the bus." though I might also say that I did that when answering how I got somewhere.  I would also use caught when talking about where to get on a bus.  "Oh you can catch a bus at South U. and Washtanaw that will take you to Whole Foods."  You catch buses because they run on a regular scheduled independent of you, and you need to get to a place it will be to catch it before it leaves.

Taking the bus is more generalized maybe? It refers to the entire process. How will you get here?  I will take a train, a bus, a plane, a cab, a ferry.  Transportation you do not control you take.

Riding the bus refers to what you are doing once you have decided to take the bus and successfully caught it.

LTK:
Exactly! And speaking in the past tense, when you arrive at your destination by bus, you don't say you took the bus there, because you weren't in control of the bus, nor were you carrying it on your back. You haven't caught the bus there, because you were already on it. You rode the bus to your destination.

Contrariwise, claiming that you're going to the bus station to ride a bus implies that you have the specific purpose of riding a bus, any bus, no matter where it goes. If you say that you can take a bus from the bus station, you're saying that it is, in fact, possible to start or continue your journey from the bus station, wherever you might be going. Catching a bus would be more specific and involves getting to it on time.

Isn't it awesome how we can provide subtly different meanings for phrases that are essentially synonymous in everyday use, even when those phrases describe utterly mundane activities? Now I understand what linguisticists mean when they say human language can express an infinite variety of concepts with a finite supply of words.

Pilchard123:
I often get a bus. And when asked how I arrived at a location, I may have "got the bus". Sounds like some horrible medical condition.

EDIT: Added more stuff and removed butts disease.

pwhodges:
In the generalised case, where catching the bus is not so appropriate, I might go by bus.

"How would you get to such-and-such?"
"I would go by bus."

Is it cold in here?:
Then there are the ambiguities.


--- Quote from: event announcement in a newspaper ---Join Global Campaign to stop violence against women and girls with entertainment, film clips, Champagne, chocolates

--- End quote ---

That could mean
- stopping violence committed against women who have entertainment, film clips, Champagne, and chocolates.
- stopping violence committed using film clips etc. as weapons
- using film clips etc. to stop violence
- meeting with the Global Campaign at an event with film clips etc.

The same newspaper mentioned a gallery showing work by "seminal women artists".

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