I saw this at the airport when I was waiting for my limousine bus on the morning of the 15th. What am I not understanding? It sure looks as though it says, "Ticket" on top, followed by "First Get On" in the white font with the red background. Underneath that, the smaller text says you need to find a nearby ticket booth or ticket machine, get a ticket, then get on. So which is it—(1) get on first, then buy a ticket (presumably from the driver) or (2) get a ticket first, then get on? Well, when I ran 우선탑승 through Google Translate, a possible answer appeared: the phrase, taken as a whole, apparently means "priority boarding." If that's really the meaning, then okay. Otherwise, the sign doesn't make much sense. 우선/useon by itself normally means "first (of all)," while 탑승/tapseung does indeed mean "boarding" (a bus, a plane, etc.), so I took this to mean "board first." A staffer tried to explain the sign to me, but I didn't quite understand his explanation. Lost opportunity.
Ah, I see that Naver Dictionary goes even further, giving us some etymological clues. There are two 우선s! The first 우선 is one set of Chinese characters, 于先, meaning "first of all/above all," while the second 우선 has a different character as the first particle, 優先, and it specifically means "priority/prioritize." See here.
As you discovered, 우선 here refers to "priority." 우선탑승 would be a weird way of saying "board first" anyway, regardless of the characters.
ReplyDeleteI take the sign to mean that people with previously purchased tickets have priority in boarding, but that you could, in theory, buy a ticket on the bus as long as there are no passengers with pre-bought tickets waiting. This is interesting, because my understanding was that you now had to buy tickets in advance. I guess this is for people who arrive at the last minute and don't have time to go buy a ticket. Good to know, although I will still try to buy my tickets in advance, if possible.
It says underneath that you csn only pay cash/travel card if there are free seats i.e. if the bus hasnt sold out im advance. This is all well and good, but what do you do when you're heading to the airport? Do they have an app to biy tickets?
ReplyDeleteI've boarded the 6009 bus at Daechi Station on the way to the airport. In that case, you definitely get on first and pay as you get on. Last year, I think my regular 교통카드 was enough for me and Mike to pay our respective fees.
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