WORD UP!

Commonly confused phrases and linguistic muddles

TOW THE LINE This idiom is used to describe someone reluctantly having to follow a specific rule, or to go along with what a group decides. It feels right that it should have its origins in some olde-worlde aspect of towing, like using a rope to tow a boat through a canal lock. However, if you're being forced to go along with something, you wouldn't be towing the line. Someone/thing else would be using the line to tow you – you would be holding the line. So, actually, the correct idiom is 'toe the line'. As with many sayings, it's not clear exactly when it was first used, but it's very likely to have been in a military context: soldiers or sailors having to line up in a row with their…

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The Simple Things (Digital) - 1 Issue, July 2024

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