# Toe the line; NOT tow the line **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 17, 2010, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toe-the-line-not-tow-the-line/564547 "2010-12-17T19:21:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2010, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toe-the-line-not-tow-the-line/564547/21 "2010-12-18T19:55:22Z")
I thought that the term came from ballet. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2010, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toe-the-line-not-tow-the-line/564547/22 "2010-12-18T22:41:01Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > I think you mean “intensive purposes.” Quite right. This is the new part of the problem, ‘muscle memory’ from years of typing. My fingers produce words that don’t correspond with my thoughts. ‘Any’ is likely to come out ‘and’, the ‘there’, ‘they’re’, and ‘their’ get mixed up by my fingers even though I’m aware of which one should be used. It’s time to have all homophones use the same spelling. Not really, but it would solve the simple problems. In the case above, my fingers went for the and despite trying to output the typically wrong phrase. It was easier when I ignored caps and didn’t care about spelling and just let people complain. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2010, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toe-the-line-not-tow-the-line/564547/23 "2010-12-18T22:48:28Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Actually, this phrase originated in the military, where it was regarded as an unfortunate necessity to fire a [TOW wire-guided missile](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tow_missile) at someone who was untruthful. Thus, the correct spelling of this term is “TOW the lyin’.” We’re gonna TOW you for that. ---
**Author:** ![ragerdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d07c76/32.png) [@ragerdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ragerdude)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2010, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toe-the-line-not-tow-the-line/564547/24 "2010-12-18T22:55:01Z")
Tow the lion. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toe-the-line-not-tow-the-line/564547/25 "2010-12-19T00:09:59Z")
Thank you for this thread. It’s MOOT point, not MUTE point. It’s PEDAL to the METAL, not PETAL to the MEDAL. (Unless you’re throwing roses at someone’s Pulitzer… and I believe that is illegal in several Southern states.) It’s SOPHOMORE, not SOTH’MORE. I feel better. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toe-the-line-not-tow-the-line/564547/26 "2010-12-19T02:11:15Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Thank you for this thread. > > \ > > I feel better. I don’t; I’m still peeved. Cromulent peeves me too; I’ve never really believed in that word. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toe-the-line-not-tow-the-line/564547/27 "2010-12-19T02:21:56Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > A few years back, someone on this board kept typing “toe.” I was about to get all in his face about it, but I thought I’d better look it up first, just in case I was about to make a fool of myself. Good thing! > > I thought that it meant lining up at a real or imaginary line, so that everyone’s toes are even. > > Towing makes a lot more sense to me. Imagine a barge with a rope, or line, to pull it upriver with. It takes ten men pulling on the line to move the barge. If on isn’t, and is making everyone else work hard, he’s not “towing the line.” > > Makes perfect sense. Except for the fact that you don’t tow a line. You tow something with the line, maybe, but you aren’t towing the line. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toe-the-line-not-tow-the-line/564547/28 "2010-12-19T02:42:12Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Except for the fact that you don’t tow a line. You tow something with the line, maybe, but you aren’t towing the line. I don’t see how you can tow something with a line, without towing the line as well. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toe-the-line-not-tow-the-line/564547/29 "2010-12-19T13:42:41Z")
[Video of course.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPBwbdRuKPc) ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toe-the-line-not-tow-the-line/564547/30 "2010-12-19T13:53:21Z")
I once replied to a post that I liked with the words: Hear Hear! only to get a response of it’s here here, you moron. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toe-the-line-not-tow-the-line/564547/31 "2010-12-19T22:16:20Z")
One I think a few people get wrong is “Present company excepted.” I’ve seen professional publications print it as “Present company accepted” which really means the complete opposite. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toe-the-line-not-tow-the-line/564547/32 "2010-12-19T23:54:33Z")
Another one we’ll be seeing in a couple of months is ["earned a birth](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=%22earned+a+birth%22&aq=f&aqi=m1&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=)." I once challenged someone on this and it was explained as a team being “reborn” in the post-season. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![AmunRa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@AmunRa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AmunRa)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toe-the-line-not-tow-the-line/564547/33 "2010-12-20T01:44:36Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Towing makes a lot more sense to me. Imagine a barge with a rope, or line, to pull it upriver with. It takes ten men pulling on the line to move the barge. If on isn’t, and is making everyone else work hard, he’s not “towing the line.” > > Makes perfect sense. Wouldn’t you be towing the barge in that case? > [@BubbaDog](#): > > An acquaintance of mine once served time in a medium security prison. It looked like a small college campus with a large fence around it. > > He said he wasn’t behind bars. He lived in a dorm. But four or five times a day he had to toe the line. That is, stand on a line on the floor to prove that he was still “present” at the facility. The phrase was used in essentially the same manner when I was in Army basic training. ---
**Author:** ![Chicken\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toe-the-line-not-tow-the-line/564547/34 "2010-12-20T23:30:25Z")
Who can resist a toe-headed child? ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toe-the-line-not-tow-the-line/564547/35 "2010-12-22T16:50:56Z")
I could care less about this. ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toe-the-line-not-tow-the-line/564547/36 "2010-12-22T17:13:32Z")
Serious addition to the thread. [Over here in the Pit,](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=13274847&postcount=13) someone uses the term “cow towing” in the context of deferring to another person. The word is “kowtow,” it’s Chinese, and it’s a single word. “Cow towing” means to drag cattle by a rope, line, or cable. This is Not Recommended, as cattle are awful performers at towed-platform stunts. The preferred method is to load cattle into a cattle car, then tow the car. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toe-the-line-not-tow-the-line/564547/37 "2010-12-22T18:20:00Z")
> [@Chicken\_Fingers](#): > > Who can resist a toe-headed child? That might have been the idea behind [this album cover](http://www.alexgitlin.com/tf1.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Emily\_Litella](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emily_litella/32/3370_2.png) [@Emily\_Litella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emily_Litella)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toe-the-line-not-tow-the-line/564547/38 "2010-12-22T18:31:28Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > That might have been the idea behind [this album cover](http://www.alexgitlin.com/tf1.jpg). It looks like a thumb to me but I like the special affect. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toe-the-line-not-tow-the-line/564547/39 "2010-12-22T18:45:34Z")
They look like thumbs to me, too–the band’s name is Toe Fat, so who knows? ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toe-the-line-not-tow-the-line/564547/40 "2010-12-22T18:57:31Z")
My teachers told us about school in Indiana’s pioneer days. When the teacher asked a question, the student had to come to the front of the room to answer, standing with his toes on the chalk line. In good weather, most of the kids walked to school barefoot, so they literally toed the line. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toe-the-line-not-tow-the-line/564547.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toe-the-line-not-tow-the-line/564547.md?page=3)