Do you stand "in line" or "on line"?
Last month, there was a discussion about the proper terminology used when discussing the word "party" in this thread.
I thought of this again the other day while sitting in one of my favorite Manhattan diners (The Tic Toc Diner (Check it out if your in town. 
)
Anyway, someone from "way out of town" wasn't sure where to pay. A waitress told the customers to "stand on line" by the register in the back. This is the way we commonly use this expression in this part of the country. We say "stand on line"
I was standing on line at the bank.
If you want tickets for that concert, you are going to have to stand on line for hours.
The customers were of course confused until another customer shouted out "stand in line". This expression definitely predates the use of computers and has nothing to do with "going online" on a computer.
I don't think this would be called an idiom. It is just a simple change in vocabulary from region to region.
Can you think of any others in the English or Spanish language that could cause confusion to beginners(and even those who have been at it for awhile)?
24 Answers
Seb79 said .....
In England, we wouldn't really say 'stand on line', but 'stand in line'
I've never heard that in England Seb! But to stand 'on/in line' would be easily understood (in context of course).
Here we use the verb 'to queue up' (to stand in/on line) or the noun 'queue' (the line).
Of course, queuing up is a national pastime here. I think other European people make fun of us for it 
I have never in my life heard of standing "on line". I always thought "in line" made more sense because you're standing IN the formation of a line. Sometimes, I guess, there can be a physical line on the ground, but I don't think that's rarely the case...
Hi Nicole
For what its worth "stand in line" and that's from the country from where your language originated.
New Yorkers and some other Eastcoasters stand on line.
Everybody else stands in line.
They just have to be better than the rest of us.
New Yorkers and some other Eastcoasters stand on line.
Up as far as New England then it is "in line"
I say "in line". I'm from the midwest, but I've lived everywhere, currently in SoCal. "On line" sounds British to me, though I know it's not.
I agree actually with patch- in England we simply use to queue, although in some circumstances I have seen 'stand in line' being used, albeit in a rather rare sense. I also think though 4annie, is correct in saying 'form an orderly queue' is used, however I think that this term is quite old-fashioned, quite 'stiff upper lipped'!.
But I suppose that's what we Brits may be seen as by other nations across the world: quite 'jolly good, old chap' with a typical British, sarcastic type accent.
An American came over to my school, to study in the first year and I couldn't help noticing how much attention he recieved because of his accent. I think it's because of the American stereo type we have here in England, of americans being rich, and therefore having a high status. I've also noticed, how in America, Americans give British individuals who visit America more attention as well, and perhaps that's due to their stereo-type of us. That of our accents being linked to having a higher intelligence.
I don't know....but it seems really interesting how certain factors attribute to how we all behave.
We have a regionalism in the Chicago area.
We go "over by" things while the other parts of the country seem to go "over to" it.
For example:
"Go over by the wall and wait for someone to call your name."
Go over to the wall and wait for someone to call your name."
In Massachusetts we'd definitely say "stand in line," and I've never heard anyone in my travels say "standing on line."
I have heard "stoop" from my grandparents, but now it's more common to say "front/back steps" or "porch."
I'm from New York. I stand ON line at the bank, grocery store, etc. But when I hear other people say IN line, it doesn't sound strange to me. Maybe because that's what I'm used to hearing on the television.
I've read that saying "on" line is unique to the NY metropolitan area.
In line. What? yeah.
I find both entirely acceptable (along with various flavors of "queue" (perhaps I read too many British novels).
I googled "stand in line" and "stand on line". The results show about 10 times as many hits for stand in line, compared to stand on line.
http://www.google.com/search?q="stand+in+line" --> 829,000
http://www.google.com/search?q="stand+on+line" --> 85,600
This doesn't mean I always agree with google results, but it's interesting.
In line.
In line for the Kiwis. 
