What does it mean to pre-board? Do you get on before you get on? — George Carlin

What does it mean to pre-board? Do you get on before you get on?

Author: George Carlin

Insight: George Carlin's casual question cuts at something we all experience but rarely question: how language itself can become absurd without us noticing. We're so used to accepting the terms we're given that we stop asking if they actually make sense. Pre-board sounds official and necessary, so we shuffle into the jet bridge without wondering why we need a word for "getting ready to get on the plane." This matters because it reveals how easily we accept inefficiency wrapped in new vocabulary. We say we're "multitasking" when we're actually just switching between things badly. We "circle back" instead of saying we'll talk again later. The language doesn't just describe what we're doing—it often masks what's actually happening, making the ordinary sound productive or the confused sound purposeful. Carlin's point isn't really about airports. It's a reminder that staying awake to the words we use, and the words used on us, is a form of freedom. When you start noticing the empty jargon, you realize how much of life is performance, and how much space that leaves for doing things differently.

Source: Jammin' in New York (TV Special 1992)

When language masks what's actually happening

George Carlin's casual question cuts at something we all experience but rarely question: how language itself can become absurd without us noticing. We're so used to accepting the terms we're given that we stop asking if they actually make sense. Pre-board sounds official and necessary, so we shuffle into the jet bridge without wondering why we need a word for "getting ready to get on the plane."

This matters because it reveals how easily we accept inefficiency wrapped in new vocabulary. We say we're "multitasking" when we're actually just switching between things badly. We "circle back" instead of saying we'll talk again later. The language doesn't just describe what we're doing—it often masks what's actually happening, making the ordinary sound productive or the confused sound purposeful. Carlin's point isn't really about airports. It's a reminder that staying awake to the words we use, and the words used on us, is a form of freedom. When you start noticing the empty jargon, you realize how much of life is performance, and how much space that leaves for doing things differently.

What does it mean to pre-board? Do you get on before you get on? — George Carlin

When language masks what's actually happening

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