"Most readers have spent time in Airportland. We know its particular wan light; the general flatness..."

"... that makes the incline of jetways such a shock; its salty, sugary, and alcohol-infused cuisine; its detached social ambiance; its modes of travel (the long slog down the moving walkway, the hum of the people-moving carts, the standing-room-only shuttles, the escalators, the diddly-dup diddly-dup of roller bags, and — oh, yes — the airplanes); its fauna (emotional-support animals) and flora (plastic ficus); its mysterious system of governance; its language.... [W]hy Gate? Well, apparently there once was an actual gate, which stayed closed until the propellers of the plane were safely tied down and the passengers were free to pass through and board from the tarmac.... Take concourse. It’s from the Latin, meaning 'flowing together,' and outside Airportland it generally refers to an open area where passageways meet and people gather. In French, concours means 'contest.' At the airport, the concourses are simply wide corridors, usually designated by letter, but if you like you can think of them as flowing, since they’re usually filled with a stream of humanity, and it often feels like a contest simply to reach the gate without incident....."

From "The Language of Airportland" by Lucy Ferriss (Lingua Franca).