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On Line vs. In Line - Page 2

Poll Results: Which term do you use or prefer?

This is a multiple choice poll
  • 10% (3)
    On Line
  • 58% (17)
    In Line
  • 24% (7)
    Queue
  • 6% (2)
    Other (please add your comments below)
29 Total Votes  
post #16 of 24
11/14/11 at 11:55pm
in line.

on line would sound 'wrong'

while queue would sound horribly pretentious.
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post #17 of 24
11/15/11 at 2:53am
Been the privileged foreigner means I rarely have to stand in lines or queue. Never heard 'standing on line' though.

People don't queue anyway, usually it's a push and shove instead for things like buses.
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post #18 of 24
11/15/11 at 8:12am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by zippyh View Post

Complete with map.
http://dialect.redlog.net/staticmaps/q_93.html
Wow!
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post #19 of 24
11/15/11 at 8:15am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blackhood View Post

I queue, always have and always will.
Isn't it the law where you live?

I'm always amazed at the perfect queues in San Francisco awaiting BART trains. I can't imagine standing waiting for a train with someone directly behind me. Given the prevalence of the 'unstable' today ... I really don't want to end up on the track just ahead of the arriving train.
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post #20 of 24
11/15/11 at 8:21am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bringusingoodale View Post

in line.
on line would sound 'wrong'
while queue would sound horribly pretentious.
We Brits like to oblige
Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeDT View Post

Been the privileged foreigner means I rarely have to stand in lines or queue. Never heard 'standing on line' though.
People don't queue anyway, usually it's a push and shove instead for things like buses.

certainly the case here
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post #21 of 24
11/15/11 at 8:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by RSS View Post

Most anyone in the northeastern United States has likely heard someone refer to 'standing on line.' In most of the rest of the United States one hears 'standing in line.' Then there are those who queue.
Any of you care to share your thoughts? I'd also like hearing from those from outside the United States ... as to the custom in your area.
I seem to recall that mathmatically speaking a line has no thickness ... therefore mathmatically one can only be on a line, not in it.
I admit, I used all three.

a line has no thickness if the points making up the line are infinitesimally small, but if people are the points than it makes sense to stand in line
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post #22 of 24
11/15/11 at 8:43am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by indesertum View Post

a line has no thickness if the points making up the line are infinitesimally small, but if people are the points than it makes sense to stand in line
And given the trend toward obesity ...
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post #23 of 24
11/15/11 at 9:10am
Queue > in line > all > on line. Unless you are using the internet in which case being online is correct.
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post #24 of 24
11/15/11 at 11:29am
Quote:
Originally Posted by zippyh View Post

Complete with map.

http://dialect.redlog.net/staticmaps/q_93.html

I'm in the "either sounds fine to my ear" camp, and the position of my hometown on this map reflects that. It's interesting that there's congruence between the "on line" and "either" groups, but not "in line" and "either".

When I was a kid my mom used to take me around to the tag sales in the area. Apparently "tag sale" is a pretty specific indicator that one was raised within a 50 mile radius of NYC. Out here in CA, they're usually called 'garage' and 'yard' sales.

I'm pretty into in-line skating, and with ski season coming I pulled them out of the garage a few weeks back to rebuild my stamina and work on my slalom turns.
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