"Toe the line" or "Tow the line"

[Recursion]

I can make arguments for either. I would prefer watching a DU discussion to googling...

[jambo101]

1. One way is correct the other isnt .

Depending on the context of use

Origin from Wikipedia:

The most likely origins of the term go back to the usage of the wooden ships in the Royal Navy. Barefooted seamen had to stand at attention for inspection and had to line up on deck along the seams of the wooden planks, hence to "toe the line". Over the years the term has been attributed to sports, including toeing the starting line in track events and toeing a center line in boxing which boxers were instructed to line up on either side of to start a match.

And from the Grammarist website=
Toe the line

The idiom is toe the line, not tow the line. The phrase derives from track-and-field events in which athletes are required to place a foot on a starting line and wait for the signal to go. Race officials used to shout “Toe the line!” where now they shout “On your marks!” Since entering the language, the idiom has developed to mean do what is expected or act according to someone else’s rules or expectations.

[hlthe2b]

2. Toe the line n/t

[Phentex]

3. It's tow the lion...

too heavy to carry by yourself.

[Recursion]

4. Those lions are quite heavy (nt)

[pinboy3niner]

6. It's manely muscle weight, experts say

But I never would have guessed they have a penchant for shellfish.

[malthaussen]

5. I believe the origins of the expression are pugilistic.

In the old days of the boxing ring, there was a line in the middle. At the start of each round, the contestants had to come up and "toe the line" or be disqualified.

In view of the wikipedia quote above, it may be that boxing adapted the idiom from the Navy.

-- Mal

[gratuitous]

7. It's toe

And, a propos of several posts I've seen here and around the internets, it's the "Commander-in-Chief," not "commander and chief." And it's absolutely revolting that a fat old pacifist knows this and some self-styled military experts don't.

[bluesbassman]

8. "Draggin' the line"

[LiberalEsto]

9. It has always been toe as far back as I can remember

and I'm 62

[logosoco]

10. Toe

Where would you tow the line to? Or maybe that could be a new saying for people who are trying to change where the line is? Hmm....

[trof]

11. 'Tow' would be dragging a rope.

[Recursion]

13. Right, which is how ships used to tell how fast they were going

By towing a knotted line with a log at the end.

Turn the glass and heave the log, Mr. Blakeney, etc...

[ailsagirl]

12. I believe it is "toe the line"

http://grammartips.homestead.com/toetheline.html

[Tom_Foolery]

14. Rocky Burnette has the answer...