I am from the south, with that having been said, it's probably a given that we tend to have our own take on the English language. I know that we, as southerners, have some weird words but, since I am the speaker of said words, I tend to think they are okay. :)
My husband is from New Jersey and although he has lost his Jersey Shore accent the way he phrases certain things remain unchanged. My all time unfavorite is "on line." Not like he is trying to win us tickets to a Jason Aldean concert, so he went online to enter a contest.
He uses it in the context of:
Cell Phone: Buzz, Buzz (it's on silent he's in public & NO ONE likes to hear your cell phone ring in public)
Matt: "Hello."
Me: "Where are you?"
Matt: "I'm online waiting to get Scouts prescription at the pharmacy."
Me: "Oh, so they painted a line for you to stand on so y'all don't get lost? Like the girls have at preschool so they can find their way to the bathroom? Or is it like the highway and you can only pass on the right? If so can you jump in front of whoever is holding things up?"
Matt: ............
He's usually hung up by the time my monologue is finished, and I find myself laughing at my own jokes, which is fine. Matt always says I am the funniest person "I" know! :)
This has been a long-standing battle so, to settle things once and for all, I did some actual research. I wanted to discover the truth about the correct phrasing and where it originated from. I needed this information for use on this blog and.........not at all to prove that once again, I am right. :)
I found a book entitled Common Errors in the English Usage which listed using the phrase "standing on line" as one of the common English usage errors made and that is was predominantly made by New Yorkers or Bostonians.
Um, that made me wonder, are people in New York, Boston, and New Jersey actually up there standing on line? Are the businesses in these cities painting up their floors to create order and reason in a world of unlined chaos?
While attempting to locate the exact spot that details the grammatical error, I came upon this article Stand on line or in line? Which deflated my "Yes I'm Right Balloon" a little bit. The author says that the phrase "on line" begins to appear in text in the 1800's.
"For example, here’s a line from an 1886 book called the Life of the Right Reverend John Barrett Kerfoot, First Bishop of Pittsburgh.
“The school-day began early—at five o’clock in summer, and at quarter before six in winter. A pleasant-toned, sonorous bell aroused us, and after eight minutes we were expected to be in the school-room, to stand on line in an assigned order and to answer to our names.”
Finally, I came upon a New York Times blogger who posed this exact question Is it 'On Line' or 'In Line'? Unable to say a definite yes or no he created a poll (which I participated in mainly because I could not see the results without choosing a side) Below are the results of the poll with my selection included.
** Results will change as others pose this same question, stumble upon this article, want to know the results and add their choice into the mix
The definitions from OED for on and in:
ON:
PREPOSITION
Physically in contact with and supported by (a surface):
On the table was a water jug.
ADVERB
Physically in contact with and supported by a surface:
Make sure the lid is on
Can I get into the car when the cover is on?
IN:
PREPOSITION
Expressing the situation of something that is or appears to be enclosed or surrounded by something else:
Living in Deep River.
ADVERB
Expressing movement with the result that someone or something becomes enclosed or surrounded by something else:
Come in.
