Do You Understand the Phrase Mind the Gap?
@BelleStarr (61102)
United States
July 2, 2019 7:50am CST
I was watching the news and I saw a story about a little boy in Australia who fell into the space between the platform and a train at the rail station. It was terrifying. He was not injured, people pulled him out immediately. But it made me remember a tee shirt my husband got years ago in England.
Mind the gap is a common phrase and they say it in the tube station in London frequently. I was wondering if you saw my husband's tee shirt would you know what it meant? Nobody where he worked did!!
28 people like this
27 responses
@BelleStarr (61102)
• United States
2 Jul 19
lol My husband got a lot of slack from that shirt, somehow people thought it was a bad thing lol
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61102)
• United States
2 Jul 19
Its true, and especially here in the United States, such a small percentage of people actually travel to Europe. Most people don't even have a passport.
@flapiz (23148)
• United Kingdom
2 Jul 19
Yep I’m familiar of the phrase. Perth train stations have it too as some people fall through the gaps. During my stay there there was an incident of a man falling half of his leg on the gap. He was rescued through help of other passengers but that could have turned out badly if no one noticed him.
1 person likes this
@flapiz (23148)
• United Kingdom
2 Jul 19
@BelleStarr Are there incidences related to the gaps there?
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61102)
• United States
2 Jul 19
Yes the gap is dangerous and we do have it here but it isn't warned about.
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61102)
• United States
3 Jul 19
@LadyDuck Me as well, my last experience in Boston was scary, people are crazy, they almost knocked me down.
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (471217)
• Switzerland
3 Jul 19
@BelleStarr I stay well behind the yellow line when the train comes into the station. Those young people looking at their phones scare me.
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61102)
• United States
2 Jul 19
@DianneN lol I say that every time I go to Walmart lol
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61102)
• United States
2 Jul 19
Yes some of the stations have a lot of gap lol
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61102)
• United States
3 Jul 19
It is pretty much an English thing.
1 person likes this
@changjiangzhibin89 (16752)
• China
7 Jul 19
That was a close shave ! It would confuse me if the phrase is on tee shirt.
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61102)
• United States
7 Jul 19
It confused most people who saw it lol
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61102)
• United States
2 Jul 19
I actually was surprised how many people do recognize it, none of my husband's friends had a clue.
1 person likes this
@simone10 (54187)
• Louisville, Kentucky
2 Jul 19
@BelleStarr I've never heard the phrase before but now that I know the background, it makes sense.
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61102)
• United States
2 Jul 19
We have been to London many times so that is why we are familiar with it,
@amadeo (111938)
• United States
2 Jul 19
@BelleStarr While I was there.We not aware of this.
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61102)
• United States
15 Oct 19
Yes that is my point I guess, most Americans have never been to London so would not understand the phrase.
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61102)
• United States
2 Jul 19
Yes he was very lucky he just wasn't watching where his feet were going.
1 person likes this
@just4him (317040)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
2 Jul 19
@BelleStarr Yes, he was lucky. He could have been killed.
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61102)
• United States
2 Jul 19
Yes it was very lucky, he could have been killed.
1 person likes this
@HazySue (39268)
• Gouverneur, New York
3 Jul 19
@BelleStarr Once you explained the meaning of the phrase it made perfect sense to me.
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61102)
• United States
2 Jul 19
I will have to look the next time I am on the T, I never noticed it there.
1 person likes this
@cperry2 (5608)
• Newport, Oregon
2 Jul 19
@BelleStarr Could have been somewhere else, Just taht is where I am remembering it.
1 person likes this
@Sreekala (34312)
• India
3 Jul 19
I heard this announcement in metro trains here, before reaching the station, they are alerting people, which station arriving then which side the doors will open and finally telling 'Please mind the gap'. But with the announcement in Hindi they replaced this line, as please get down slowly. I don't know why there is a difference. So probably they are telling 'keep the distance'.
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61102)
• United States
3 Jul 19
Yes that is interesting that they change the phrase that much, but the warning is the same.
@allknowing (135813)
• India
3 Jul 19
I think that gap is narrowed down a lot these days. I have travelled in California and the trains are flat with the platform.
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61102)
• United States
3 Jul 19
Yes I am sure but many of these older stations are not as tight a fit.
1 person likes this
@crazyhorseladycx (39509)
• United States
2 Jul 19
no ma'am, i'd figured such referred to plumbers 
so glad those folks acted quickly'n got that young'un to safety.
so glad those folks acted quickly'n got that young'un to safety.1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61102)
• United States
3 Jul 19
Yes he was very lucky to have gotten out of there unscathed.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (339295)
• Rockingham, Australia
3 Jul 19
I know what it means as occasionally we travel by train in Perth or in Melbourne. That would have been so frightening for the child. The gap isn't very big at all in the stations I've been in. I know once a guy got his foot jammed and the commuters were able to shove the carriage sideways just enough for him to free his foot.
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61102)
• United States
3 Jul 19
That had the potential to be very dangerous, luckily they were able to move the car.
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61102)
• United States
3 Jul 19
We bought it in London, on Piccadilly I think.
1 person likes this
