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stranger
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stranger
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I'm no grammarian and have been in a situation where over the years I have been slowly losing my ability to speak English or write a proper sentence. However, here is my question: why do people use the phrase "on line" as in 'standing on line' when they mean "in line" as in 'standing in line'? I first heard this phrase many years ago while listening to Howard Stern and thought it sounded ridiculous to my Virginia ears. But I hear it used more and more frequently. Am I just wrong on this? I always think of "on line" as "online" meaning on the computer while "in line" means that I am standing in a line formed by a lot of folks to get in the movies.
Is it just a New York thing that has migrated south?
Please let me know where this came from and if either is more correct than the other.
Thank you.
Last edited by Velveeta; 08/30/11 11:21 AM. Reason: correction
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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I think we can blame the Brits, ultimately, for this usage, as they stand on a queue. and yes, on line in this sense is from NYC . (or the NE? in any case, it's just a regional variant.)
the computer usage dates from 1950 and began its life hyphenated:
1950 W. W. Stifler High-speed Computing Devices (Engin. Res. Associates) ii. 7 In on-line operation the input is communicated directly‥to the data-reduction device.
edit: but the latter use stems from earlier uses such as a railway line, or power source coming on-line.
Last edited by tsuwm; 08/30/11 12:10 PM.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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----please, draw me a sheep----
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stranger
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stranger
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In England we queue, or queue up. We might stand in a queue, but never on it. I suggest that the original poster is hearing a dialect in which 'in' is pronounced 'n' which sounds a bit like 'on'.
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old hand
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old hand
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It is unquestionably "on," and from the New York City area. I grew up a couple of hundred miles from there, where it was always "in." In college everyone not from "The City" ridiculed it, usually amiably.
Last edited by Tromboniator; 08/30/11 09:35 PM.
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Joined: Aug 2011
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stranger
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stranger
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The French 'en route' has become 'in route' in the US and 'on route' in the UK. Do the French stand 'en ligne' ?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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:~) The French are on internet "en ligne", they do their standing in line
"en queue".
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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:~) The French are on internet "en ligne", they do their standing in line
"en queue". You will note, however, that the same preposition is being used in both constructions in French. How we translate it into English is dependent on how the idiom works in the target language. Spanish also has the one preposition, en, that is used for both in and on in English. They have trouble sometimes trying to remember that we ride on an airplane but in a car. It works both ways. English speakers can have trouble trying to remember which form of the verb, to be, is used for a specific phrase in Spanish.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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"On line" is a horrible perversion of the correct form of something-or-other being IN line. Horrible, I say! [running in circles tearing her hair out e] (Can you say, "pet peeve"?) I am ON line right now via my computer; but people wait IN line, wherever.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Curb your peeve, Jackie! Or perhaps your uncontrolled peeve can tell us why we travel in a car and on an airplane.
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