My grandfather was a ticket inspector, and he always told incredible stories about the old days when trains were the fastest way to travel.

inspector 是由动词 inspect（检查）加上名词后缀 -or 构成的名词，表示"进行检查的人"。inspect 本身由前缀 in-（表示"向内"）和词根 spect（看）组成，字面意思是"仔细查看"。 ticket inspector 指专门检查车票的工作人员，即"票务检查员"或"查票员"。