In the latest episode during the mock trial Larry says he was "on line" referring to a line of a group of people. I guess that is a New York way to say it? I have also heard Howard Stern say this and analyze it but I am wondering how others say it?
If I have to queue up for something I say I am waiting "in line" not "on line". How about you? And what region are you from? Texas for me.
Yeah, "on line" is eastern urban. In the west we say "in line". Since the line is composed of people, if you are one of them, you are in it, not on it. Unless there's actually a line painted on the floor, then you'd be on it, and also in the line made of people.
sharedouble line!
cool thanks for the response. In line does seem to make more sense.
I'm from NY. All the older people say on line and all us younger people say in line. We also like to fight over what's considered "upstate" and what's not.
shareInteresting how that has shifted in the younger generation. I wonder why that has changed.
shareThe only time I've heard on-line was at the DMV when I first got my permit in the 80s. One of the workers had a heavy Jamaican accent and said "I told you to wait over there, not on line."
This was before the internet. I'm wondering if the younger generation that grew up with the internet has something to do with the generation gap here.
I lived on both east and west coasts, in both US and Canada. My entire life the phrase was "standing in line." All of a sudden sometime in the last few years it became "standing on line." Both coasts, both countries. It remains a mystery to me how phrases change for no apparent reason. This isn't the only one. For me it's a slippery slope to complete destruction of the English language....we will be left with new slang every year made up by kids and more and more abbreviations.
shareno cap 😄
shareI started a thread about this somewhere, maybe a few over the years. Never got anyone commenting about it, but I've always said "in line".
That's the term. Soldiers fall in line, threats to a misbehavior to get himself in line, or I am in line at the pharmacy? I never even heard on line until probably post-2000.
I am from all over. East Coast, Texas, California, live in the Deep South for a bit, and the Frozen North.
To me ON LINE, means on line with my computer watching, or searching for something on the Internet.
You are "in" the line, not "on" the line unless you fucked up at tennis maybe or Ping-Pong.