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Park on the parkway

George Carlin was a master of wordplay.  One of the bits of his that I hear quoted most often is under the subject of how confusing and arbitrary language can be: "Why do we park in the driveway, but drive on the parkway?"

Without even looking it up, one can see that it's a matter of context, and a language where compound words are so easily made up and added to the vocabulary.

From the context of one's home and yard, if you were to set aside one area where you can drive up and park, why not call it a "driveway"?  And if you're building a scenic highway (which might actually pass through a park), it's not a big stretch of the imagination to call it a "parkway".  It's only when the two examples of apparent opposites are put side-by-side that it seems crazy.

It's amazing how many different modes of transport humans have invented, and most of them have their own "ways" for getting around.  There's the seaway, waterway, runway, airway, skyway, byway, highway, thruway, parkway, driveway, beltway, freeway, railway, trailway, pathway, ...

Like usual, the words rise and fall in usage.  Check this out:


All kinds of alternatives can be imagined.  Would the opposite of a freeway be a payway?  I've heard "tollway" actually used, it seems clumsy but it gets the point across.

Since all roads go through somewhere, isn't "thruway" a bit useless?  And poorly spelled?

And if a "parkway" is the scenic sort, would the opposite be "uglyway"?  I've been on a few stretches like that.

I always thought that the uncommon "beltway" was clever: it's a highway that circles a city like a belt.

For a different perspective, "airway" is fun.  It can be the route you use to travel through the air (on an aircraft), or the route that air uses to travel through you (in your lungs).  Sadly, it doesn't apply if you're just falling through the air, or if air were just blowing in one ear and out the other!


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