Somebody straighten me out on this once and for all.
Is it toe the line or tow the line?
My beloved Gram explained the meaning of this often used phrase once when I was a child. She said it's TOE the line. Foot races, she said, have a starting line. The runners line up there, placing their toes as nearly across it as they dare, but never passed a certain point. When people "toe the line" they are following the rules, stopping themselves from crossing said line and conforming to expectation.
Yet, I see it written as tow everywhere! Am I the only one who uses toe? Was Gram, the grammatical bane of my existence wrong?
How does tow the line fit? Does this have nautical nuance that I missed somewhere? If you tow a line, it would seem to me you're going to pull a skiier, rescue someone or haul a disabled vessel somewhere... ????
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