this post was submitted on 04 Sep 2023
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MeanwhileOnGrad
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You are correct, I wanted to expand on this famous eggcorn.
https://www.vocabulary.com/articles/pardon-the-expression/toe-the-line-vs-tow-the-line/
Honestly, tow makes more sense to me. Many people helping to tow a rope, or a line, makes it easier so it would be like saying, “get in line and help out.”
The use of “toe the line”, given this context, is more like, “get in line for competition.”
Yes, the way that OP uses the phrase is based on the eggcorn version of it.
Tow making more sense is a great example of an odd property of eggcorns: They frequently make more sense than the idiom or word they're replacing.
I don't think of a line as a rope, but a line drawn on the ground. I always imagined toe the line as someone getting closer and closer to a line, strong right next to it, and then just barely push their toes to the other side of the line.
I use ropes at work and “line” is commonly used term for a rope or steel wire or whatever you’re hanging or pulling things with.