The Ins and Outs of Lines
October 28, 2009 by Dawn Allcot
Filed under Mis-used Words
Confused about grammar? Get in line...
“That girl looked like Kate from Lost,” I observed as we left the bank.
“Who? The one on line?” my husband asked.
I gave him a blank stare. “No, the girl in the bank… She looked like Kate from Lost.”
“Yes. The girl on line… in the bank,” he specified, sounding frustrated.
“Oh! Yes! Didn’t she?”
And that is how using incorrect grammar can confuse people in spoken conversations.
This is also how a teething one-year-old who wakes up every two hours can impact communication in a marriage. Admittedly, I wasn’t too swift on the uptake in the above conversation. When my husband said, “on line” I did actually begin wondering why he thought I was talking about someone on the Internet. Or maybe I just need to get more of a life that doesn’t revolve around cyberspace?
In line v. Online
Back when I learned that you stand “in line,” not “on line,” it didn’t make much of a difference. “Online,” as in the Internet, didn’t exist. Picky English teachers and parents, though, wanted to make sure we knew the rule. You stand in a line, not on it.
The reasoning? You are one of many people forming the line… you’re part of the line… you’re in it. The only way you can stand on a line is if there were a piece of tape on the ground forming a line and you were standing on top of it. And that would just be a little weird.
In football, you’re “at” the yard line… you’re still not “on it,” even if you are standing on top of the powder that forms the line.
There was, previously, no easy way to remember to use “in” rather than “on.” As far as mnemonic devices go, the word “in” is part of the word “line.” That might help you, but it never worked for me.
Today, it’s a lot easier to remember. If you’re talking about the physical world, real life, then you’re “in line.” If you’re on the Web, you’re online. Of course, with smart phones and Netbooks, we can be in line and online simultaneously. (If you are, would you order a latte for me, please?)t
Or we can just go the British route and queue up.
No related posts.
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
I’ve heard so many people say “on” line that I was beginning to think that I was wrong using “in”. Small word; big difference. Thanks for the English lesson!
I know what you mean… there are a few rules and words like that, where I begin to wonder if I’m wrong!
For instance, the “more than” v. “over” rule. (More than is, in fact, correct, but so many people use “over” it’s even become accepted by the authorities who determine such things (such as the Associated Press.)
While I’m not a stickler (okay, I am) I lean toward being a language purist.