# "Waiting on" vs. "waiting for" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 11, 2010, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiting-on-vs-waiting-for/524504 "2010-01-11T14:02:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiting-on-vs-waiting-for/524504/1 "2010-01-11T14:02:47Z")
In recent years I’ve come across things like, “I’d like to buy a new TV, but I’m waiting on my tax refund.” To me this sounds very foreign. I"m in the New York City area, and never heard it until a few years ago. Such a context would never be anything but “waiting for.” “Waiting on” is reserved for things which a waiter or waitress does: to wait on people. That is, to serve other people, waiting for their requests and instructions and such. As I think about it now, I suppose it could be neatly divided like this: “Waiting on” is a service one actively performs for other people. “Waiting for” is simply a condition of killing time and waiting for some event to occur. Does this make sense to others? Was the extended use of “waiting on” a regional thing which has recently expanded into other areas? Or maybe it was never used anywhere to refer to events, but recently took that meaning everywhere? Or maybe it has always been used that way even in NYC and I never noticed? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiting-on-vs-waiting-for/524504/2 "2010-01-11T14:14:43Z")
I blame [The Rolling Stones](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waiting_on_a_Friend). ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiting-on-vs-waiting-for/524504/3 "2010-01-11T14:21:43Z")
I agree with the OP. “Waiting on” is unfortunately extremely prevalent. Even at my job (software), where we create various messages such as “waiting (on/for) XYZ”, they are creating messages with “waiting on”. I pointed out that they should be “waiting for” but they decided to leave it as “on”. The messages were reviewed by the proofreaders and left that way. Personally I would be embarrassed to say “waiting on” in a business context. It has always sounded like dialect to me. ---
**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:** [January 11, 2010, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiting-on-vs-waiting-for/524504/4 "2010-01-11T14:31:02Z")
I’ve encountered ‘waiting on’ here in the UK - in the south where I live, it tends to feel rather archaic, but I think it becomes more and more the norm the further north you go. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiting-on-vs-waiting-for/524504/5 "2010-01-11T14:31:09Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > As I think about it now, I suppose it could be neatly divided like this: “Waiting on” is a service one actively performs for other people. “Waiting for” is simply a condition of killing time and waiting for some event to occur. This is exactly how I would interpret those terms. I’m in England. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiting-on-vs-waiting-for/524504/6 "2010-01-11T14:31:47Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I blame [The Rolling Stones](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waiting_on_a_Friend). Could it be a Britishism, then? Any Brits want to offer an opinion? ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiting-on-vs-waiting-for/524504/7 "2010-01-11T14:34:59Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > Could it be a Britishism, then? Any Brits want to offer an opinion? Seems like a fairly normal and common phrase to me. I certainly use it, at any rate. South of England. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiting-on-vs-waiting-for/524504/8 "2010-01-11T14:40:49Z")
> [@ratatoskK](#): > > I agree with the OP. “Waiting on” is unfortunately extremely prevalent. Even at my job (software), where we create various messages such as “waiting (on/for) XYZ”, they are creating messages with “waiting on”. I pointed out that they should be “waiting for” but they decided to leave it as “on”. The messages were reviewed by the proofreaders and left that way. Personally I would be embarrassed to say “waiting on” in a business context. It has always sounded like dialect to me. It _is_ dialect. That doesn’t mean it’s wrong. For business/technical writing you can certainly dictate the style you want to use, but for colloquial usage there’s not a thing wrong with it. Unlike the OP I have heard this for most of my life and it sounds perfectly natural to me. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiting-on-vs-waiting-for/524504/9 "2010-01-11T14:42:52Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > …I"m in the New York City area… BTW same issue different flavor: In NYC they seem to say “waiting _on_ line” but I have never heard anything but “waiting _in_ line” anywhere I’ve lived. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiting-on-vs-waiting-for/524504/10 "2010-01-11T14:51:47Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > BTW same issue different flavor: In NYC they seem to say “waiting _on_ line” but I have never heard anything but “waiting _in_ line” anywhere I’ve lived. :eek: :smack: BUSTED!!! (…as Keeve slinks away in shame…) ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Mariemarie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/58f4c7/32.png) [@Mariemarie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mariemarie)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiting-on-vs-waiting-for/524504/11 "2010-01-11T15:08:16Z")
I remember reading about “waiting on and waiting for” in William Safire’s column ‘On Language’ in the New York Times years ago. I think he said it has its origins in the phrase “waiting en queue”, which turned into “waiting on line”. The column is reprinted in [Let A Simile Be Your Umbrella](http://www.amazon.com/Let-Simile-Be-Your-Umbrella/dp/0609609475/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263221727&sr=1-1#noop). Search was not available for this book either in Amazon or Google books unfortunately. ---
**Author:** ![Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walker_in_Eternity)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiting-on-vs-waiting-for/524504/12 "2010-01-11T15:11:57Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > Seems like a fairly normal and common phrase to me. I certainly use it, at any rate. South of England. I always associate “waiting on” with Americanisms, I’m from the midlands and would always use “waiting for” (in the context suggested in the OP). ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiting-on-vs-waiting-for/524504/13 "2010-01-11T22:24:16Z")
I agree, “waiting on” to mean “waiting for” has really taken over the NYC area in the past 5 years. Before that I thought of it as a Southern US dialectical expression, noteworthy when I heard it, as if I were to say I was “waiting on” someone it would suggest standing with a notepad and asking if they wanted a lemon slice with their Diet Coke. Then I started hearing it from a lot of people, and finally, within the past 5 years, it’s the standard phrase around my office (to “wait on” developments, people’s responses, etc.). It used to bug me but I’ve gotten over it. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiting-on-vs-waiting-for/524504/14 "2010-01-11T22:35:51Z")
“Waiting on” is extremely prevalent in Ireland. My grandparents would have said “waiting on” instead of “waiting for”, although my parents (both teachers) would not. I remember being specifically taught at school the “correct” (i.e. standard English) usage. ---
**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:** [January 11, 2010, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiting-on-vs-waiting-for/524504/15 "2010-01-11T22:38:23Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I blame [The Rolling Stones](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waiting_on_a_Friend). But…but…what about [The Kinks](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tired_of_Waiting_for_You)? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiting-on-vs-waiting-for/524504/16 "2010-01-11T22:39:03Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > It _is_ dialect. That doesn’t mean it’s wrong. I didn’t say, nor do I believe, that use of dialect is wrong in casual conversation. But in a business presentation it sounds stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiting-on-vs-waiting-for/524504/17 "2010-01-11T22:43:11Z")
“Waiting on” is a common construction in the Southern US. ---
**Author:** ![Vashbul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Vashbul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vashbul)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiting-on-vs-waiting-for/524504/18 "2010-01-11T22:44:18Z")
My sister, raised in Massachusetts, moved to Tennessee years ago. She worked as a waitress and one night a young guy started getting friendly and asked if she wanted him to wait on her. She thought it was a joke, the customer asking to wait on the waitress. But when she quit for the evening, he was waiting FOR her, outside (she politely turned him down). True story. ---
**Author:** ![Ronald\_C.Semone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cc9497/32.png) [@Ronald\_C.Semone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ronald_C.Semone)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiting-on-vs-waiting-for/524504/19 "2010-01-11T22:55:40Z")
I can remember back in the fifth grade Miss Sullivan telling the class that one should never say “wait on” when “wait for” is meant, that it would be a sign of poor language skills. And I can remember thinking "That’s stupid. Who would ever say “wait on?” This was in 1948 in Massachusetts. It wasn’t until I moved to North Carolina in 1961 that I actually heard someone say “wait on” meaning “wait for.” Now, I hear it all the time, in person and on radio/tv, and even see it in print , in newspapers and books. It still causes me to wince. ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiting-on-vs-waiting-for/524504/20 "2010-01-13T14:01:41Z")
As someone who used to be a waitress and bartender, I spent a good deal of time “waiting on” people. But when they were being slow to order, I was definitely “waiting for” them to order. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiting-on-vs-waiting-for/524504.md?page=2)