Toeing, towing the line

[VintageGardenia]

I have frequently seen this written on MN as tow the line. I can see why people might think it's towing in a boating context or something but my fingers always itch to type toe the line.

It is toe the line.

I don't really need anyone to reply. I feel better already for having typed it.

phew, I was worried you were going to ask which it was!

Nope!

I just got 222 results for a search on "tow the line" but I expect some of them were fishing-related posts.

Mental note: get a life.

I thought it was 'tow the line' for years ... then I saw it written down and it suddenly made so much more sense.
I suppose it makes sense (as far as idioms do) either way but 'toe' makes more sense to me.

Definitely 'toe the line'.

It refers to the early days of boxing (bare knuckle fighting). There was no limits to the number of rounds and there was no dancing around the ring, you walked up to the line place the front of your foot on it and thumped the hell out of each other.

To show you were able to keep going at the start of each round you had to walk to the middle and toe the line.

I never knew that about the origins - I always liked the expression as it gave me an image of someone tottering along an imaginary chalked line with their arms stretched out for balance.

Tow the line gives a very pedestrian picture by comparison.

DadInsteadofMum, I think you're getting confused with "up to scratch" which comes from boxing/fighting.

"Toe the line" seems to come from the starting position for games and competitions, and has come to allude to uniformity. There's also an earlier seventeenth century incarnation, "foot/toe the trig" referring to the starting position for quoits/bowls. ('Trig' is a mark on the ground.)

No not confused, there are varous historical reports, (referenced for example here) to toe the line being from prize fighting (as well as up to scratch)

And such I always believed (I know, I know, started a sentence with a conjunction).

However, in trying to prove my point (is there anything worse than a petty pedant), I found two alternative possibilities.

During the days of sail, in the British Royal Navy, part of each Sunday involved the ritual of "divisions," akin to a formal inspection in modern militaries. At this time, the Royal Marines and each navy officer's division would form up at set locations on deck. As a guide for forming neat straight lines, sailors would stand with their toes along a seam of deck planking, and would thereby "toe the line."

OR

The lines between the two front benches in the House of Commons are traditionally two swords length apart. When politicians became two rowdy (hard to believe - how times change!) the speaker would call the to "toe the lines" in order to keep them apart and prevent any real damage being done.

You pays your money and takes your choice.

Aaaaggghhh - too rowdy. (Sorry)

OR

from hunting "To toe the line" meant a hound following a hot scent and not casting about too far while looking for it.

The definitive answer should come from Wikipedia "The term has disputed origins" - so that clears that up then.

[Wanders off to join OP in searching for a life]