« Wait list »

[wobblychristmastree]

It’s all over Mumsnet! Is this now an accepted English term? What happened to waiting list?

Just a rant from me

I've noticed this creeping in too. Is it American?

I will never not say waiting list.

I agree, it is horrid. Not quite as bad as 'needs gone' though.

I believe it’s an Americanism

It’s a waiting list. It was always a waiting list and it will always, for me, be a waiting list.

Yes. Like ‘waiting in line’ replacing queuing.

It's a waiting list because you're waiting for something.
You're not wait for something.

It’s awful. Waiting list, waiting list.

So annoying.

I am so relieved it isn't just me who loathes this.

Hate it too! 😬

Y'all are going to clutch your linguistic pearls over this, but in the US, it's now one word: waitlist. It's also a verb as in "I was waitlisted by Harvard." Some guides suggest a hyphen for the verb form.

pearls clutched!

seriously though, it’s absolutely fine in the US but absolutely not in the UK IMO

Is it part of a current tendency to shorten everything to gobbledegook — eg you’re on a waiting list/ wait list/ waitlist? (And to invent new words à l’americaine? Even though a perfectly good word already exists)