33:
159:
178:
The phrase "the wrong type of snow", "the wrong kind of snow" and variants appear periodically in
British media reports concerning railway incidents brought on by adverse weather, with an intended polemic effect of instilling disbelief in the reader. Since "the wrong type of snow" has entered British
97:
on railway services that winter. Worrall explained that "we are having particular problems with the type of snow, which is rare in the UK". Naughtie replied "Oh, I see, it was the wrong kind of snow," to which
Worrall replied, "No, it was a different kind of snow". The exchange prompted a headline in
258:
The popularity of the "wrong type of snow" phrase has been attributed to its expression of a national sense of disappointment with
British infrastructure, along with a fading sense of national pride and romantic associations with railways. The phrase has been cited as an example of poor
271:
that has "stuck" with its audience and is subject to interpretation in other contexts; what originated as a simplified explanation of a technical problem has become a popular code for a lame excuse. The "wrong kind of/type of" part of the phrase has itself been shown to exemplify
453:
759:
292:
In
Russian culture the phrase "his grenades are of wrong system" ("гранаты не той системы") is used as an ironic comment on a petty excuse for something not done. It originated in a Soviet
923:
915:
62:
on the line, and the media ridiculed this explanation and expressed scepticism that there were different types of snow. Henceforth in the United
Kingdom, the phrase became a byword for
461:
107:
The cold snap had been forecast and
British Rail had claimed to be ready for the coming snow. However, the snow was unusually soft and powdery and too deep to be cleared by
255:
and are considered to be established in the "collective
British consciousness". The two have also been combined into "the wrong sort of leaves" in media coverage.
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695:
51:
1031:
1036:
483:
750:
202:, trapping 2,000 passengers in darkness; newspapers reported "wrong type of fluffy snow". Following the destruction of the coastal railway line at
94:
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damage in trains. For traction motors with integral cooling fans and air intakes pointing downwards – the type that is still common on
British
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Rules
Britannia: the 101 Essential Questions of Britishness Answered, from how to keep a stiff upper lip to who ate all the pies
1177:
510:
1172:
943:
236:
1000:
737:
the passengers, used to the wrong type of leaves and the wrong type of snow, heard the embarrassed conductor confess ...
612:
Dixon, John; Joyner, Melanie (1 December 1999). "Privatization of
British Rail: The Holy Grail or a Poisoned Chalice?".
267:. Its longevity and persistence in the public consciousness has been attributed to a highly effective but poorly chosen
127:– the problem was made worse as the air intakes sucked up the loose snow. Meanwhile, the snow also became packed into
135:, causing them to fail. In addition, low temperatures resulted in problems with electric current collection from the
150:
were introduced. Long delays were commonplace – up to eight hours in some cases. The disruption lasted over a week.
32:
891:
147:
1208:
868:
1317:
1307:
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saying "British Rail blames the wrong type of snow" which was swiftly taken up by the media and other papers.
93:'s Director of Operations, Terry Worrall, was asked to comment on the adverse effects of the unusually heavy
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37:
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to ridicule seasonal disruption, to such an extent that they are now said to have passed into Britain's
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to compose stories about failures in the performance of railway operators. Stock phrases involving "
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83:
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58:'s services. A British Rail press release stated that the disruptions were due to the wrong
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to move from an impartial description of weather conditions to become a politically loaded
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721:
410:
273:
158:
132:
235:
The emergence of the phrase "the wrong type of snow" came about during a period when the
933:
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with a notice reading, "Trains cancelled – Wrong sort of seaweed". On 12 January 2016,
215:
199:
120:
75:
784:
Business Communication: Rethinking Your Professional Practice for the Post-digital Age
17:
1271:
928:
817:"Grammaticalization and prosody: The case of English sort/kind/type of constructions"
244:
116:
59:
848:
907:
625:
553:
220:
128:
90:
55:
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with the headline, "Wrong kind of sunlight delays Southeastern trains in London".
1119:
79:
816:
319: – Methods for describing snowfall events and the resulting snow crystals
171:
136:
112:
840:
633:
1134:
293:
281:
180:
63:
419:
The Wrong Kind of Snow: The Complete Daily Companion to the British Weather
184:
832:
1230:
252:
248:
195:
108:
641:
1187:
454:"From the archive: British Rail blames 'wrong type of snow' for delays"
268:
203:
239:
was being widely debated in the media. Journalists frequently sourced
298:
229:
751:"Unveiled: a weapon to clear the wrong sort of leaves off the line"
179:
English phraseology, it has come to be regarded as an example of a
207:
157:
31:
576:
Gourvish, Terence Richard; Gourvish, Terry; Anson, Mike (2004).
880:
876:
549:"Wrong kind of sunlight delays Southeastern trains in London"
660:"16. What amazing power does 'the wrong kind of snow' have?"
115:. The snow found its way into electrical systems and caused
582:
British Rail 1974–1997: From Integration to Privatisation
371:
British Rail, 1974–97: From Integration to Privatisation
50:
is a phrase coined by the British media in 1991 after
1201:
1160:
1112:
1071:
1060:
1019:
993:
962:
914:
869:Безработица в Казахстане: «гранаты» не той системы?
815:Dehé, Nicole; Stathi, Katerina (20 December 2016).
722:"Virgin tops excuse list as train runs out of fuel"
74:The phrase originated in an interview conducted by
749:
511:"Eurostar blames 'fluffy' snow for weekend chaos"
509:Bird, Steve; Lindsay, Robert (21 December 2009).
228:train delays caused by "strong sunlight" and the
892:
438:
436:
434:
142:Many electric services had to be replaced by
8:
696:"Wrong sort of leaves hit train punctuality"
350:Hartley, Peter; Bruckmann, Clive G. (2002).
27:Byword for euphemistic and pointless excuses
653:
651:
1068:
899:
885:
877:
781:Hartley, Peter; Chatterton, Peter (2015).
36:A layer of snow on railway tracks on the
394:
7:
1278:Rail transport in the United Kingdom
694:Millward, David (28 November 2010).
174:, England, during heavy snow in 2010
949:Campaign to Bring Back British Rail
401:Hartley & Bruckmann 2002, p. 1.
210:during severe weather in 2014, the
614:Administrative Theory & Praxis
421:. London: Hodder & Stoughton.
25:
666:. London: Ebury. pp. 39–42.
452:Bailey, Eric (13 February 1991).
1214:British Rail Passenger Timetable
720:Carter, Helen (4 January 1999).
276:, having undergone a process of
1178:British Rail Telecommunications
762:from the original on 7 May 2022
192:December 2009 European snowfall
1173:British Rail Research Division
626:10.1080/10841806.1999.11643418
1:
578:"Running the Railways 1990-4"
237:privatisation of British Rail
54:caused disruption to many of
1001:British Transport Commission
584:. OUP Oxford. p. 274.
1334:
1313:Quotations from television
1293:Snow in the United Kingdom
369:Gourvish, Terence (2002).
1255:
484:"Snow by Marcus Sedgwick"
325: – Linguistic cliché
198:trains broke down in the
1183:British Transport Hotels
1168:British Rail Engineering
1130:Railfreight Distribution
787:. Routledge. p. 5.
658:Candappa, Rohan (2007).
247:" and snow were used in
48:"the wrong kind of snow"
44:"The wrong type of snow"
1219:British Transport Films
1011:BRB (Residuary) Limited
924:1955 modernisation plan
317:Classifications of snow
304:White Sun of the Desert
261:corporate communication
146:haulage, and emergency
125:electric multiple units
66:and pointless excuses.
38:East Lancashire Railway
1243:The wrong type of snow
1006:British Railways Board
954:Great British Railways
442:Gourvish 2002, p. 274.
352:Business Communication
183:, a type of re-usable
175:
40:
18:The wrong kind of snow
1259:Category:British Rail
833:10.1353/lan.2016.0077
323:Eskimo words for snow
214:carried a cartoon by
161:
89:on 11 February 1991.
35:
1237:The Age of the Train
1125:Rail Express Systems
337:Motive Power Monthly
187:with many variants.
131:mechanisms and into
1202:Media and publicity
288:Similar expressions
168:Erewash Valley Line
985:Transport Act 2000
975:Transport Act 1962
970:Transport Act 1947
538:, 6 February 2014,
278:grammaticalization
245:leaves on the line
241:anecdotal evidence
176:
41:
1265:
1264:
1251:
1250:
1147:Trainload Freight
1094:Regional Railways
1089:Network SouthEast
1084:Network NorthWest
1062:Services, sectors
980:Railways Act 1993
557:. 12 January 2016
427:978-0-340-93787-7
16:(Redirected from
1325:
1152:Red Star Parcels
1069:
1064:and subsidiaries
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490:. 6 October 2016
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464:on 16 April 2017
460:. Archived from
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411:Woodward, Antony
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265:public relations
162:A Northern Rail
101:Evening Standard
21:
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1318:1991 neologisms
1308:1991 quotations
1288:English phrases
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1193:Travellers Fare
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756:The Independent
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536:Daily Telegraph
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488:Shiny New Books
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274:semantic change
212:Daily Telegraph
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934:Serpell Report
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827:(4): 911–946.
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758:. 9 May 1998.
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620:(4): 539–541.
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373:. OUP Oxford.
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289:
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230:low winter sun
200:Channel Tunnel
155:
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121:traction motor
117:short circuits
76:James Naughtie
71:
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52:severe weather
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1037:North Eastern
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944:Privatisation
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929:Beeching cuts
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794:9781136181603
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700:The Telegraph
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673:9780091922955
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458:The Telegraph
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380:0-19-926909-2
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361:0-415-19550-0
357:
354:. Routledge.
353:
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164:Class 158 DMU
160:
153:
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145:
140:
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134:
130:
126:
122:
118:
114:
110:
105:
103:
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96:
95:1991 snowfall
92:
88:
86:
81:
77:
69:
67:
65:
61:
57:
53:
49:
45:
39:
34:
30:
19:
1242:
1235:
1223:
1209:Double Arrow
1140:Freightliner
1104:Night Trains
908:British Rail
864:
852:. Retrieved
824:
820:
810:
798:. Retrieved
783:
776:
764:. Retrieved
755:
744:
736:
729:. Retrieved
726:The Guardian
725:
715:
703:. Retrieved
699:
689:
677:. Retrieved
663:
617:
613:
607:
595:. Retrieved
581:
571:
559:. Retrieved
554:The Guardian
552:
543:
535:
531:
519:. Retrieved
514:
504:
492:. Retrieved
487:
478:
466:. Retrieved
462:the original
457:
447:
418:
415:Penn, Robert
406:
397:
370:
351:
336:
335:Allan, Ian.
302:
297:
291:
284:of failure.
257:
234:
226:Southeastern
224:reported on
221:The Guardian
219:
211:
189:
177:
141:
129:sliding door
111:– it needed
106:
99:
91:British Rail
84:
73:
60:type of snow
56:British Rail
47:
43:
42:
29:
1298:Newswriting
1120:Railfreight
963:Legislation
339:(May 1991)
190:During the
113:snowblowers
109:snowploughs
98:the London
80:BBC Radio 4
64:euphemistic
1303:Snowclones
1283:Euphemisms
1272:Categories
1225:Night Mail
994:Management
561:12 January
330:References
194:, several
172:Derbyshire
148:timetables
137:third rail
70:Background
1257:See also
1135:Speedlink
1079:InterCity
1072:Passenger
939:Accidents
841:1535-0665
634:1084-1806
515:The Times
345:0952-2867
294:cult film
282:signifier
249:headlines
181:snowclone
87:Programme
1231:Railnews
1099:ScotRail
1047:Southern
1042:Scottish
849:59026946
821:Language
760:Archived
642:25611461
517:. London
494:15 April
468:16 April
417:(2008).
311:See also
253:folklore
196:Eurostar
1188:Sealink
1113:Freight
1052:Western
1027:Eastern
1020:Regions
916:History
854:10 June
800:10 June
766:10 June
731:10 June
705:10 June
679:10 June
597:10 June
269:analogy
204:Dawlish
166:on the
847:
839:
791:
670:
640:
632:
588:
521:8 June
425:
377:
358:
343:
299:Ostern
296:, the
185:cliché
144:diesel
133:points
1161:Other
845:S2CID
638:JSTOR
389:Notes
208:Devon
154:Usage
85:Today
856:2017
837:ISSN
802:2017
789:ISBN
768:2019
733:2019
707:2019
681:2017
668:ISBN
630:ISSN
599:2017
586:ISBN
563:2016
523:2017
496:2017
470:2017
423:ISBN
413:and
375:ISBN
356:ISBN
341:ISSN
263:and
216:Matt
119:and
829:doi
622:doi
170:in
82:'s
78:on
46:or
1274::
843:.
835:.
825:92
823:.
819:.
754:.
735:.
724:.
698:.
662:.
650:^
636:.
628:.
618:21
616:.
580:.
551:.
513:.
486:.
456:.
433:^
307:.
206:,
139:.
900:e
893:t
886:v
858:.
831::
804:.
770:.
709:.
683:.
644:.
624::
601:.
565:.
525:.
498:.
472:.
383:.
364:.
20:)
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
