Re: To toe or to tow the line?

["Writing Consulting: Faculty Resources" <writingc@falcon.cc.ukans.edu>]

On Thu, 6 Nov 1997, Denise Stephenson wrote:

> 
>      I just saw Michael Permberton's speech title for the MWCA, "Toe the 
>      Party Line or Subvert from Within?" I found that my tutors unanimously 
>      thought it should be Tow the line (like pull your own weight) while 
>      faculty and other "older" types thought it should be Toe the line 
>      (like everybody get in line). What are other thoughts on this 
>      interesting linguistic twist?
>      
>      Denise Stephenson
Denise--
Here's my research and what I wrote in our newsletter. Please excuse
strange punctuation--a hazard of cutting and pasting.

The title of the keynote is an excellent illustration of the value of
working with word origins.  Both tow the party line and toe the party line
make sense.  One could carry along the party line to share with otherstow
it along, in other words.  The other spelling makes sense as well.  People
might be expected to move precisely, as on a tightrope.  But according to
Webster's II New Riverside University Dictionary (1994), the phrase toe
the party line originated from the idea of runners being required to put
their toe on the starting line--conform to the rules, in other words. 

Pat McQueeney
 Writing
Consulting: Faculty Resources KU's Writing Across the Curriculum Service
(913) 864-4232
http://falcon.cc.ukans.edu/~writingc/index.html