Mine is tow the line rather than toe the line.
I imagine someone as a tugboat–towing the line of what is expected. I like that imagery better than keeping a foot on some fucking line. Plus using toe as a verb is dumb.
What are yours?
Mine is tow the line rather than toe the line.
I imagine someone as a tugboat–towing the line of what is expected. I like that imagery better than keeping a foot on some fucking line. Plus using toe as a verb is dumb.
What are yours?
Eh I’m in the US and wouldn’t say it’s a negative connotation so much as firm or strict one. More neutral than positive or negative. That said…it’s also slightly contextual though.
Regular context of guiding a kid or a team that’s been in trouble for something(“we better toe the line going forward”), it’s more neutral. But you can use it slightly derisively for someone that’s a stickler or brown noser, (“Don’t do anything cheeky around Dan, he really toes the line and will go tattle to the manager.”)
Anyways, just throwing my two cents to the wind.