12/29/2023 0 Comments I walk the line![]() It says the verb phrase “go down the line” means “to make an effort, to commit oneself.” This sounds a lot like the way Johnny Cash used “walk the line.” Green’s Dictionary of Slang offers another possible explanation of the lyric. So according to Cambridge, a statement like “We’ll go walking on down the line” could mean “We’ll go walking on into the future.” It gives this example: “Waiting even a year to put money into your retirement account can make a big difference down the line.” The Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms says the expression is usually spoken and means in the future. However, Cafferty doesn’t seem to be using “down the line” either way in his lyrics for “Boardwalk Angel.” Two other uses of the phrase make more sense to us. Yarborough described himself as a ‘down-the-line supporter’ of President Kennedy.” The expression is also used figuratively in the sense of complete, as in this OED example from the June 9, 1962, issue of the Economist: “Mr. Here’s an OED example from Tony, an 1898 children’s book by the English novelist Florence Montgomery: “A few stations down the line.” The expression “down the line” is often used literally, meaning from one end to the other, as in down a line of troops or down a railway line. The world has let you down and it broke your heartīut tonight’s the night for a brand new startĬome on girl, let’s make our dream come true. However, we’ve found many examples from as far back as the 1700s of the expression used in the sense of being faithful.įor example, Masonic Miscellanies, a 1797 collection of Masonic poetry and prose collected by Stephen Jones, includes these lines:Īs for “Boardwalk Angel,” the John Cafferty song from the 1983 film Eddie and the Cruisers, here’s the stanza that caught your attention: ![]() We couldn’t find any entries for “walk the line” in the OED, standard dictionaries, or authoritative slang dictionaries. 26, 2010, interview with NPR: “It was kind of a prodding to myself to play it straight, Johnny.” I keep the ends out for the tie that bindsĪs you’ve noted, in the Cash song the expression “to walk the line” means to be faithful. I keep a close watch on this heart of mine The noun “line” has taken on even more meanings in such expressions as “draw the line” (18th century, to lay down a limit beyond which one won’t tolerate or act) and “hold the line” (20th century, to maintain a position or a viewpoint).Īs for the expressions you’re asking about, let’s begin with the beginning of the 1956 Johnny Cash song “I Walk the Line”: The Chambers Dictionary of Etymology says the English word is ultimately derived from linea, Latin for linen thread and the source of the English noun “linen.” Today, it can mean a line on a piece of paper, a railway line, a line of work, a power line, a pickup line, a line of products, a foul line in sports, a defensive line on the battlefield, a line of people, a line of a musical staff, a bookmaker’s line, and so on. Q: What is “the line” that Johnny Cash walked and Eddie and the Cruisers walked on down? There is the obvious geometric sense and the implication of faithfulness or doing right, but the usage seems to vary in American popular culture.Ī: The noun “line” has taken on quite a lot of senses since it showed up in Anglo-Saxon times and meant a rope or string, according to the Oxford English Dictionary.
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