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; 08/30/2011 11:21 AM. Reason: correction