# "On Track", or "Untracked"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 28, 2008, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-track-or-untracked/435291 "2008-01-28T06:03:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-track-or-untracked/435291/1 "2008-01-28T06:03:13Z")
[Mods - I have no idea where to put this, but since the phrase commonly arises in sports, I’ll try here.] So which is it? A team is floundering, and the ex-jock color guy says “Well, they need to get \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_”. Ex-jock color guys being pretty much morons, we can’t rely on them to get it right. I think it should be “on track”, because I have the image of a derailed train (which is going nowhere in the near future) needing to get back on the track. “Untracked” makes absolutely no sense to me. Bonus: If I’m right, can we get out the torches and pitchforks for the guys who clearly say “untracked”? ---
**Author:** ![NightRabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbce88/32.png) [@NightRabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NightRabbit)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-track-or-untracked/435291/2 "2008-01-28T06:33:59Z")
It’s definitely “on track”. Then again, when I was younger, I always heard the expression “play it by ear” as “play it by year”. It took a long time before I realized I was getting that wrong, as they sound so similiar when said! ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-track-or-untracked/435291/3 "2008-01-28T13:50:39Z")
It’s “on track,” and I’m intrigued by your pitchfork idea. Those cliches and phrasings are bad enough on their own. It really bugs me when people mangle them. ---
**Author:** ![Mahna\_Mahna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@Mahna\_Mahna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahna_Mahna)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-track-or-untracked/435291/4 "2008-01-28T14:06:38Z")
Gah. Sign me up for the pitchfork patrol. The use of “untracked” is right up there with “for all intensive purposes”. It’s not even a word! ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-track-or-untracked/435291/5 "2008-01-28T16:29:21Z")
[QUOTE=Mahna Mahna] The use of “untracked” is right up there with “for all intensive purposes”. [/QUOTE] Get it right. It’s “In tents and porpoises.” Yours doesn’t even make sense. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-track-or-untracked/435291/6 "2008-01-28T17:55:38Z")
It’s been going on for a long time too. This Language Log link has a cite from 1927, and the more modern “get untracked” variant from 1940. It truly is taking longer than we thought… [http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002148.html](http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002148.html) ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-track-or-untracked/435291/7 "2008-01-28T18:17:15Z")
Put me in the On Track group. I can’t even imagine how untracked could work. ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-track-or-untracked/435291/8 "2008-01-28T18:24:15Z")
Agreed. This drives me nuts. ---
**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:** [January 28, 2008, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-track-or-untracked/435291/9 "2008-01-28T18:24:39Z")
I’ve never heard anything but “on track” used in this context, but perhaps I’m just mentally making the corrections when I hear someone say “untracked.” ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-track-or-untracked/435291/10 "2008-01-28T19:14:48Z")
Worse, it’s now often _written_ as untracked. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-track-or-untracked/435291/11 "2008-01-28T20:06:58Z")
Often it is get back on track, or they derailed in 2001. It’s certainly a train wreck reference. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-track-or-untracked/435291/12 "2008-01-28T23:59:09Z")
“On track” is definitely correct. It seems to me that “untracked” would be the opposite, as in going off the tracks. As in “the Bears’ plan was to go with the passing game, but that came untracked after the Packers intercepted them twice and sacked the QB 3 times this half.” ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-track-or-untracked/435291/13 "2008-01-29T05:20:57Z")
[QUOTE=Jas09] It’s been going on for a long time too. This Language Log link has a cite from 1927, and the more modern “get untracked” variant from 1940. It truly is taking longer than we thought… > **[Language Log: Historically untracked](http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002148.html)** [/QUOTE] Great article. I had no idea that the (mis)usage had been around so long. I’m wondering if an earlier usage might have been that a wagon would get in ruts so deep (“tracked”), that one couldn’t get out when one wanted to, so to get “untracked” would be a good thing.