Talk:commute

Deletion discussion

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Please do not re-nominate for verification without comprehensive reasons for doing so.

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commute

We have two noun senses:

1. The route one takes to travel to a workplace or back.
2. The distance of that route.

I seek verification of the second, which I suspect does not exist. (I do see a bunch of sites that are ambiguous (can be for either sense).)​—msh210℠ (talk) 06:30, 9 June 2013 (UTC)

Cites, not sites.​—msh210℠ (talk) 05:23, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

I agree. You could have a "long commute" to work, but that is still basically just a long version of the first definition.--Dmol (talk) 07:24, 9 June 2013 (UTC)

I have my doubts about both of them. For me, a commute is the trip itself, not the route or the distance of it. One might say "my commute took an extra 45 minutes because of traffic", or "my commute this morning was really pleasant- there wasn't much traffic, and I was listening to some great music the whole way." One would refer to the route normally taken on one's commute, or to its length, but those are attributes of the commute, not the commute itself. Chuck Entz (talk) 07:45, 9 June 2013 (UTC)

I agree that the first sense is not an adequate definition. Other dictionaries have something like "an act or instance of commuting", but this seems likely to be a disservice to some users, requiring them to sort out which sense of the verb might be meant. It also neglects the habitual/repetitive aspect which seems at the core of the word.

Some other 'unabridged' dictionaries do have a "time or distance taken" sense. Why? I think because one can say "His commute was 20 minutes/10 miles." as well as "His commute lasted/took 20 minutes." This contrasts with other time-consuming activities like "task" and "game".

As to attestation, it would seem to be in widespread use. The question to me is whether a proper first definition could be worded so that it was substitutable in all the time/distance uses of the word. DCDuring TALK 11:52, 9 June 2013 (UTC)

I agree the first definition should be tweaked. And good point re "his commute was 20 minutes/miles" (which, yes, I agree is clearly widespread use). Thanks.​—msh210℠ (talk) 05:23, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

I suggest that we modify the noun entry to read:

1. The journey undertaken to travel to or from a workplace.
2. The route, time or distance of that journey.

Would that resolve the issue? Dbfirs 08:41, 27 June 2013 (UTC)

Thanks for persisting. That's about right AFAIAC. The second seems perfect. As to the first I think the journey should be "regular" (ie, repeated on a regular basis) and may involve something other than a workplace, especially a place of learning. It could also involve a journey between regular jobs.

How about "A regular journey to or from a place of employment, such as work or school."?

We should wait a little longer - but not too long - to close this out. DCDuring TALK 13:43, 27 June 2013 (UTC)

• I think this is resolved by the rewording. If not, let's start again and actually put in the cites from the "widespread use". DCDuring TALK 01:53, 24 July 2013 (UTC)