"Waiting on line" or "Waiting in line"

[Marika]

Which if not both is correct?

I was waiting on line for the rollercoaster.

or

I was waiting in line for the rollercoaster.

Please help settle an arguement,
Marika

[Torsten]

You were waiting in line for the rollercoaster.
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Test Of English for International Communication
TOEIC Preparation & TOEIC Vocabulary

[waiting on line]

In the Northeast - NY, NJ, CT, or Boston - waiting "on line" and waiting "in line" are both acceptable. Its just that in the rest of the country - in the unimportant parts - they only say "in line." That's why NY is the center of the universe, and the South, or the Midwest, or California, isn't

[NYGuy63]

The correct grammar is 'waiting in line'. Unless there is a line painted and you are standing 'on' it you are not on a line you are in it.

"Waiting on line" I have lived in 4 different parts of America. Trust me New York is far from the 'center' of the Universe. Truth is it is quite an embarrassment with people like you living here.

[Yankee]

.
I waited in line at the polls in Connecticut for just over an hour this morning.

I have also heard people say "wait on line", but it is much less commonly used than "wait in line".
.
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Amy
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ESL teacher, and native speaker of American English

[Barb_D]

I grew up in New York. We did wait "on line." It's the only place I've ever heard it used - that and the immediately surrounding area.

I don't agree, by the way, that it's a matter of "grammar." It's a regional variation. You wouldn't say that correct grammar requires us to say "I live on Mulberry Street" and that our British counterparts are therefore wrong when they say "I live in Mulberry Street," would you? I do believe the person who posted bfore you - in 2005, I may add - had his or her tongue firmly in cheek.

(Amy, only 20 minutes for me. I was psyched!)

[Skrej]

Ahh, the beauty of an absentee ballot... no lines at all.

Interesting to hear about the 'waiting on line', I've not heard that.

I've heard "I'm waiting on the line to move' or similar.
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Native speaker but not a perfect speaker.
But completely fluent in over six million forms of Teflese.

[Diverhank]