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People often say "Coming through!" to announce their arrival and it's implied that the crowd should make room for them.

There's a more direct phrasal verb that I can't recollect right now. What is it? What are the other ways to convey the same?

Community
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Satya
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    Why can't use use your own "Make way"? – Weather Vane Sep 13 '22 at 17:34
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    FYI - Be aware that making your way through a crowd and using a rude or aggressive phrase can make people in the crowd quite angry with you. Coming through and Out of my way are going to result in two different reactions from the crowd. Coming through indicates to the crowd that you will be pushing through them, all they have to do is be prepared. Out of my way tells people in the crowd you expect them to move for you -- not a good first impression -- someone will probably respond rudely to you. – EllieK Sep 13 '22 at 18:15
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    @EllieK-Don'tsupporther - 'someone will probably respond rudely to you.' - possibly by not getting out of your way. I know I might. UK people tend to say 'excuse me!" many times. – Michael Harvey Sep 13 '22 at 18:43
  • @EllieK-Don'tsupporther Would "Please, let me through" work irl? – Satya Sep 13 '22 at 19:04
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    @Satya - Yes it would work just fine. You may want to add an occasional excuse me as you bump into people while wending your way through the crowd. – EllieK Sep 13 '22 at 20:53
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    To build on @EllieK-Don'tsupporther's comment, I can think of three basic uses of the command. (1) Civilly requesting priority, (2) uncivilly demanding priority, and (3) an authorized demand for priority. (1) Someone late to work may call out "coming through!" But they're far more likely to say "excuse me" or "please let me pass." (2) A bully would say "out of the way!" or "Move!" (3) The police might yell "Police! Stand aside!" or an officer on a naval vessel might say, "Make a hole!" (1) may be irritating, but most won't take offense. (2) is always offensive. (3) is obligatory, liked or not. – JBH Sep 14 '22 at 03:49
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    purely FYI, somewhat similar when skiing is "track!". and indeed "fore!" in golf is somewhat similar. – Fattie Sep 14 '22 at 14:13
  • Just FYI: "People often say "Coming through!" to announce their arrival and it's implied that the crowd should make room for them." That's not true. I've rarely if ever heard that. – Fattie Sep 14 '22 at 14:15
  • @Fattie - Incorrect. People often say that. In the U.S. it's what you will most likely hear when someone pushes through a crowd. Probably a BrE/AmE thing. – EllieK Sep 14 '22 at 15:29
  • @Fattie That's weird. I've seen a lot of vloggers using that phrase. I've certainly heard it from American and Aussie English speakers. Are you British by any chance? – Satya Sep 14 '22 at 16:43

5 Answers5

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In American English we say make way (you have to scroll to the end of the verb definitions to find it), while the British tend to say gangway. Both of these are interjections you would shout at a crowd in the hopes they'd make room for you.

Dmann
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    UV for the gangway. I was about to post "make way" but OP has already used this. – Weather Vane Sep 13 '22 at 17:41
  • Thanks! Is "Make way" a set phrase? I would've said "Make way for me" otherwise. Also, the phrasal verb that I was thinking of was "Let me through". Would it be appropriate to say this while I elbow my way through a crowd? – Satya Sep 13 '22 at 17:51
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    Is it a set phrase? Please follow the links that readers provide. – Weather Vane Sep 13 '22 at 17:53
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    @Satya yes, "make way" is a set phrase. You can see it listed under the uses in the definition I linked. – Dmann Sep 13 '22 at 17:56
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    Except no one would ever say make way or gangway when pushing through a crowd, not in the U.S. Well, maybe if they were in a movie from the 1930s but not in the modern world. Your only options here are excuse me and coming through. They would most often be combined into excuse me, coming through. – EllieK Sep 13 '22 at 18:23
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    @Satya Yes, "Let me through" is 100% natural – gotube Sep 13 '22 at 20:40
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    As a native BrE speaker, if someone shouted "gangway" at me I would have no idea what they were talking about. This phrase is either very obscure or very old-fashioned. To me, "gangway" just means the thing you walk along to access a ship. – Will Vousden Sep 14 '22 at 07:53
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    seconding that "make way" and "gangway" both sound archaic to me (late 20's & English). I wouldn't expect to hear them in a work of fiction set later than the end of 19th century, or in certain contexts where the specific language was set centuries ago (like at a state opening of parliament or similar). "Let through" is the only phrasal verb I'd consider current for this purpose – Tristan Sep 14 '22 at 09:11
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    "Would "Give way, please!" be incorrect? – U. Windl Sep 14 '22 at 09:13
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    If a "normal" person says make way, you will be laughed at and punched. Police or emergency workers would use that. – Fattie Sep 14 '22 at 14:17
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    For what it's worth, the OED defines the interjection gangway as follows: "Originally Military. As a demand or warning to get out of the way: ’Make way!’ ‘Stand back!’"; the latest use listed in the OED is from 1992 ("‘Gangway, gangway, serious casualty here. Make way, make way’, he yelled, butting at the bodies in front of him."). This supports the comments that question gangway's appropriateness for a normal, non-official use. – Schmuddi Sep 14 '22 at 15:28
  • I would personally always write "gang way" as two words for this usage because for most instances of phrasal verbs where you have both a noun version and a verb version, the noun is written as one word and the verb is written as two. E.g. setup vs set up, login vs log in – Kevin Sep 14 '22 at 17:36
  • As a BrE speaker, I thought that "gang plank" was the access to a ship, not "gangway". In addition, I recall in either (old-fashioned comedic) movies or cartoons, people crying "gaaaangwaaaay!" when approaching a crowd at speed and needing to warn said crowd that they should part to make way.... – Greenonline Sep 14 '22 at 20:33
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    It's weird to think of "make way" as an Americanism. It sounds like something they would say in a medieval fantasy or period drama. Less subjectively, "make way" is used exactly 8 times in Shakespeare's plays, so it clearly existed in Early Modern English, which is what medieval and pseudo-medieval dramas and actually imitate. https://www.opensourceshakespeare.org/search/search-advanced.php (Check "exact phrase (slower)", put in "make way", without quotation marks, as a keyword, then hit "search".) – Mr. Nichan Sep 14 '22 at 23:12
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I would have to say that all the suggestions offered seem to me rather abrupt and would all be improved by the addition of please.

Another alternative used in my experience (BrE) is "Mind your backs" but "Excuse me" is probably more common.

mdewey
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"Make way" is a bit formal, but it's firm and can be polite. Some less polite alternate phrasal verbs include:

  • Move over!
  • Move aside!
  • Step aside!

Not a phrasal verb, but similar in meaning and rudeness:

  • Out of the way!
gotube
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Another alternative is "make a hole", although I would say "make way" is far more common.

SoronelHaetir
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    I've never heard this. Is it British? – Barmar Sep 14 '22 at 14:30
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    I've only ever heard it from sailors (as in US Navy), but at least in the 90s it was common. Don't think I've ever heard it from a civilian though. – James Moore Sep 14 '22 at 16:37
  • "Make a path" would sound a little more natural to me, and I think I've heard it before, though perhaps not often enough enough for it to really be called an idiom. In any case, I've PROBABLY heard both. I'm a native English speaker from Texas, by the way. – Mr. Nichan Sep 14 '22 at 23:15
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If you are coming up from behind someone else, and especially if you are moving quickly or need to get somewhere urgently, I would also suggest "on your left!" or "on your right!" (depending on which side of the person you intend to pass). This phrase is commonly exclaimed by bikers or joggers (as seen in the above linked clip from the Captain America movie) as they pass someone on their route. I have also heard this exclaimed by a flight attendant as they needed to get past people on a crowded jet bridge.

Cave Johnson
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