# How widespread is "tine"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 12, 2017, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-widespread-is-tine/786485 "2017-05-12T21:15:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![HipGnosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/76d3ee/32.png) [@HipGnosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HipGnosis)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2017, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-widespread-is-tine/786485/21 "2017-05-13T02:14:49Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > Does the river Tyne have a fork in it? Now that right there is the fundamental crux of a good riddle! But it would have to be spoken, not written. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2017, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-widespread-is-tine/786485/22 "2017-05-13T02:22:49Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > They never heard that Jimi Croce song: _If I could put tine in a bottle…_ Have you had a Scarborough Fork? Parsley, sage, and rosemary on tines… ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2017, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-widespread-is-tine/786485/23 "2017-05-13T06:35:57Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > Does the river Tyne have a fork in it? Can a tine have a fork? Does a toe have a foot? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2017, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-widespread-is-tine/786485/24 "2017-05-13T09:56:27Z")
Common in UK English (much more likely to be readily understood than aglet) ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2017, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-widespread-is-tine/786485/25 "2017-05-13T10:10:45Z")
I’m from Toronto originally. I know what a tine is, as did my friends there. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2017, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-widespread-is-tine/786485/26 "2017-05-13T11:20:09Z")
It’s a common word to me. Don’t have much cause to use it in casual conversation, but it’s not obscure. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2017, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-widespread-is-tine/786485/27 "2017-05-13T11:44:00Z")
Tine is also used for the forks on a forklift , and the verticals of a ladder. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2017, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-widespread-is-tine/786485/28 "2017-05-13T12:01:02Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > If a couple of minutes ago you held up a fork to me and asked me what the little pointy things are called, I may or may not have stumbled trying to come up with it, but when I saw the word “tine” I automatically interpreted it to be the pointy bits on a fork. So the word is in my vocabulary, but not my active one. The same for me. I don’t think I’ve ever actually _heard_ someone say the word. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2017, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-widespread-is-tine/786485/29 "2017-05-13T12:12:17Z")
> [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > In my experience, tines are usually parallel and not widespread, at all. [Sez you](http://www.saveur.com/weird-victorian-forks#page-10). (It’s Victorian, of course.) ---
**Author:** ![Bones\_Daley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@Bones\_Daley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bones_Daley)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2017, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-widespread-is-tine/786485/30 "2017-05-13T12:17:21Z")
> [@Isilder](#): > > Tine is also used for the forks on a forklift , **and the verticals of a ladder**. Huh ? I have never heard the verticals of a ladder referred to as anything other than the **stiles** … and the steps you stand on are called the **rungs** “Stiles” is probably as obscure to the average person in the street as “tines” , but I think most people would be familiar with “rungs”. ---
**Author:** ![spifflog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@spifflog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spifflog)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2017, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-widespread-is-tine/786485/31 "2017-05-13T12:25:28Z")
While I don’t use “tine” very often at all, I do use it more than “commonest.” ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2017, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-widespread-is-tine/786485/32 "2017-05-13T12:30:10Z")
It is the only word I can think of for “what would you call the pointy extensions on a fork.” But I don’t think I’ve ever heard it used for anything else. (Grew up in Washington and spent whole life there, HI, or CA.) ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2017, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-widespread-is-tine/786485/33 "2017-05-13T12:33:28Z")
It is certainly far more commonly used than ideolect. It is even found in Google 200 times more often than [idiolect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiolect). ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2017, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-widespread-is-tine/786485/34 "2017-05-13T12:39:23Z")
Common term IME. I know I’ve yelled, “Who the fuck left this here tines up?” regarding a pitchfork in the barn. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2017, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-widespread-is-tine/786485/35 "2017-05-13T12:42:34Z")
> [@Bones\_Daley](#): > > Huh ? I have never heard the verticals of a ladder referred to as anything other than the **stiles** … and the steps you stand on are called the **rungs** > > “Stiles” is probably as obscure to the average person in the street as “tines” , but I think most people would be familiar with “rungs”. Which styles of cabinets do not have stiles? ---
**Author:** ![Bones\_Daley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@Bones\_Daley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bones_Daley)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2017, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-widespread-is-tine/786485/36 "2017-05-13T12:57:05Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Which styles of cabinets do not have stiles? cabinets with flush (non-panelled ) doors. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2017, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-widespread-is-tine/786485/37 "2017-05-13T12:58:53Z")
> [@Bones\_Daley](#): > > Huh ? I have never heard the verticals of a ladder referred to as anything other than the **stiles** … and the steps you stand on are called the **rungs** > > “Stiles” is probably as obscure to the average person in the street as “tines” , but I think most people would be familiar with “rungs”. Yeah, I couldn’t have told you they were called “stiles.” Not sure I know that word, but I am very familiar with “tines” (and, of course, “rungs.”) ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2017, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-widespread-is-tine/786485/38 "2017-05-13T13:23:17Z")
Interesting. The one from Toronto (pronounced Tranah, BTW) has a PhD in math and is a coauthor of several of my papers, so not exactly a country hick. The other one informant was not highly educated, but still seems intelligent enough. I did know the word “stile”, but only in connection with barrier to keep livestock, but not people, out. And of course, there is “turnstile”, obviously related. Leaving a rake tines up is a real no-no. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2017, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-widespread-is-tine/786485/39 "2017-05-13T13:37:40Z")
The word tine doesn’t only refer to the prongs of a table fork. Tine is also what the individual sound producing elements of an electric piano are called. This usage is similar to table fork tines as electric pianos have tuning forks and the tine is part of that. But you don’t call the piano part a “prong” ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2017, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-widespread-is-tine/786485/40 "2017-05-13T15:21:50Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > If a couple of minutes ago you held up a fork to me and asked me what the little pointy things are called, I may or may not have stumbled trying to come up with it, but when I saw the word “tine” I automatically interpreted it to be the pointy bits on a fork. So the word is in my vocabulary, but not my active one. Interestingly, I had the exact opposite experience. I read the thread title and went 😕 “WTF is ‘tine’?” Then read the OP and went :smack: “oh, as in on a fork!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-widespread-is-tine/786485.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-widespread-is-tine/786485.md?page=3)