Why Do We ‘Toe the Line’?
If you follow political commentary, you may have come across an idiom that seems like it might use the wrong homonym: “toe” versus “tow.” The phrase “toe the line” — not to be confused with the common misspelling “tow the line” — means “to conform rigorously to a rule or
standard.” In this expression, “toe” functions as a verb meaning “to touch or reach with the toe.” Originally, the phrase was meant quite literally. One of the earliest-written records appears in an 18th-century military memoir, in which an officer orders soldiers, “Silence, you dogs, toe the line, you puppies ….”...
