# "On line" or "in line?"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-or-in-line/384698>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [December 18, 2006, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-or-in-line/384698 "2006-12-18T21:51:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\
**Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-or-in-line/384698/21 "2006-12-19T08:39:31Z")

</div>

[QUOTE=Cisco]  
What’s the alternative to waiting on you? I’ve heard it and said it all my life so I can’t understand why it sounds wrong to you guys.

“Ready to go?”  
“Waiting on you”

What else would you say? 😕  
[/QUOTE]

Waiting for you.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![SurrenderDorothy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/surrenderdorothy/32/1221_2.png) [@SurrenderDorothy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SurrenderDorothy)\
**Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-or-in-line/384698/22 "2006-12-19T13:10:16Z")

</div>

I say in line and waiting for you.

the people around here who say “on line” are the same people who say “warsh”. so… teachers and adults who have been in St. Louis too damn long.

“waiting on you” is more common. Used by the Warsh parents as well as their children and about a third of the kids who have lived here all their lives but do not have warsh parents.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\
**Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-or-in-line/384698/23 "2006-12-19T15:10:41Z")

</div>

[QUOTE=Quiddity Glomfuster]  
Wha? 😕 You’re not ‘on’ a crowd or ‘on’ an audience or ‘on’ any other group of people so being ‘on’ a line of people makes little sense - no matter how many there are.  
[/QUOTE]

Think of “It’s A Small World” at DisneyWorld/Land. You wait for far longer than you spend on the ride itself.

Thus, in a sense, the line IS a ride.

And you get on and off rides, do you not?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\
**Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-or-in-line/384698/24 "2006-12-19T15:16:45Z")

</div>

[QUOTE=betenoir]  
:dubious: Of course it’s a figure of speach. “Figure of speach” is a figure of speach. What’s wrong with that?  
[/QUOTE]

Yeah! Preech on, brother! 😉

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\
**Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-or-in-line/384698/25 "2006-12-19T15:48:08Z")

</div>

I say “waiting for you” and “waiting in line” (or “waiting in the lineup”). I tend to say “lineup” rather than “line” when referring to the noun: “There was a huge lineup outside Honest Ed’s when they were giving away the free turkeys.”

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-or-in-line/384698.md?page=1)