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Joined: Jan 2001
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old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156 |
I think next-door neighbour is pretty widespread. And they may still be the next door to yours, even if there is grass and fence in between! 
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204 |
I think next-door neighbour is pretty widespread. And they may still be the next door to yours, even if there is grass and fence in between!
I wonder if the term emanates from the terraced streets of industrial England, where the person who lived in the next house was, literally, at the next door, and where doors were in pairs all the way down the street?
In the early days, houses weren't numbered, so anyone looking for a person would have to ask where they lived. If they got hings* slightly wrong, they would be told, "Try the next door."
* EDIT - that typo should be recast as "Things", rather than "hingEs"
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 428
addict
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addict
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 428 |
I always say in line, and I agree with those who have located the on line variant to NYC, but I've known Southern Jerseyites to say it as well. Anyone ever hear it in Philly?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757 |
Does this connect in any way with the ?depression era phrase on the breadline ?
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
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'I was outside all night standing on line' Does this connect in any way with the ?depression era phrase on the breadline ?
"On the breadline" meant you were having hard times and in need ... implied a continuing, if temporary, state and since many were in the same position there was no criticism implied.
But, "on the dole" meant someone who was malingering, looking to others for continuing support ... not getting up off your duff and looking for work.
Mostly we say "in line" when, for example, waiting to buy movie tickets
"On line" has a connotation of camping out to be sure of getting tickets to an one-time event : a rock concert or the last game of the World Series. I'd thought "on line" was imported from UK ... where did I go wrong?
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065 |
Never heard of on-street or off-street. People here were using on line (She's on line) to mean on the telephone long before using the internet became common.
Bingley
Bingley
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Joined: Dec 2000
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old hand
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OP
old hand
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 1,055 |
> Never heard of on-street or off-street.
Some might say (not me :-) 'there's an on-street market today'. Or 'on-street parking is forbidden'.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156 |
Or 'on-street parking is forbidden'. Yup, until belligerentyouth posted that, I couldn't think of on-street/off-street examples, but that's an important one in a place where it snows heavily in the winter!
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 428
addict
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addict
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 428 |
And in big cities like Burlington, Vermont  an important apartment amenity is "Off-street parking available" (meaning you don't have to pray for an open spot near your building).
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189 |
In NYC (and it is a regionalism) we wait on line-- (and orders other-- "Wait your turn-- get on (the) line! Interesting, of troy. I grew up 30 miles West of NYC in central New Jersey (Plainfield), was always in and about New York, and I also lived in New York for awhile along the way. And I honestly can say I have heard and used both variations all my life...never did ponder the whys and wherefores of it. Get on line!/get in line!...waiting in line/waiting on line...were always of interchangeable usage in my mind. But..."cut in line,""don't cut in line!" or "your cutting in line" was always in ! Never knew until this thread that these were any different elsewhere, or of regional nature!  
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