Talk:toe the line

Origin from English Parliamnet
The term "Toe the Line" comes from the English Parliament. There is a line on the floor in front of each party's speaking area. Passionate debaters were known to "cross the line" and assault one another. Members of parliament on the verge of such unruly behavior are warned to "toe the line" - i.e. stay within the boundaries.

Credibility of recently added quotation
Don't have an account but I'll make one if necessary.

I'd like to discuss the recent (2022-03-24) additions which include a new definition, as the new definition contradicts the core definition.

The citation for the new definition appears to be based on a web article by a minor sports writer who seems to have died when his mental illness caused him to conflict with a police officer in 2015. None of that seems to lend credibility to the cited author's credibility as a language source.

Is this really sufficient to add a new definition?

24.193.211.62 21:10, 2 April 2022 (UTC)


 * Good question. If a definition is in doubt, the standard process is for an editor to start a discussion about it at Requests for verification/English. If you're up to it, I would encourage you to start a discussion there raising the same concerns you have here. Take care. &mdash;The Editor's Apprentice (talk) 22:07, 2 April 2022 (UTC)

RFV discussion: February–May 2023
Rfv-sense "(nonstandard) To begin to cross the line, as if with one's toe; to test limits imposed by an authority, to push boundaries." - per Talk:toe the line * Pppery * it has begun... 02:28, 22 February 2023 (UTC)


 * I've encountered a sense in this vein, where a person toeing the line means they're pushing boundaries rather than obeying boundaries like sense 1; some examples from the web are, . But I don't know if it's made it into durable media. (Sometimes people use it to mean something like ~straddling the line.) - -sche (discuss) 18:29, 14 March 2023 (UTC)

✅. Ioaxxere (talk) 21:40, 14 April 2023 (UTC)


 * RFV passed. --Overlordnat1 (talk) 13:30, 20 May 2023 (UTC)