Is "gangway" still used in British English?

[Mehrgan]

Hi,

Is the word 'gangway' still used in British English to refer to 'aisle'?

 

[emsr2d2]

By some people, yes.

 

[Rover_KE]

I've not heard it for decades and certainly not to replace aisle ​in a church, theatre or supermarket.

You might hear it shouted as an interjection, meaning 'Clear the way!'—used as a warning or to ask for clear passage.(AE 'Coming through!')

 

[emsr2d2]

I associate it with forms of transport.

Don't stand in the gangway when queuing for the toilet on a plane.

 

[Rover_KE]

I'd never think of requesting a gangway seat on a plane. They're aisle seats for me.

 

[emsr2d2]

Ditto. I call them aisle seats too! However, I do still hear the aisle itself called the gangway.

 

[PeterCW]

I have heard both used. Despite supposedly being synonyms there are subtle differences to their day to day usage in BrE.

Aisle comes from its use as a term in church architecture. Typically you have aisles to allow people to walk between fixed rows of seats or shelves.

Gangway would be more likely to be used if it was to allow passage of machinery or between rows of temporary seats.

I haven't seen these as formal definitions and these usages are by no means universal but I think that it is a reasonably accurate description of how they are often used in colloquial BrE.

 

[GoesStation]

I had no idea that "gangway" had any use beyond being the name of the enclosed ramp you walk over to board a ship.

 

[SoothingDave]

I've not heard it for decades and certainly not to replace aisle ​in a church, theatre or supermarket.

You might hear it shouted as an interjection, meaning 'Clear the way!'—used as a warning or to ask for clear passage.(AE 'Coming through!')

I had no idea why this expression was used. I only knew "gangway!" meant "get out of the way, here we come!"

 

[Tdol]

I had no idea why this expression was used. I only knew "gangway!" meant "get out of the way, here we come!"

Me too.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Yup, I'm with Goes and Dave. Never heard it used to mean aisle.

I need to travel more.

 

[Tdol]

Unfortunately, we're in a staying-at-home time, so we can't check.