The instruction to “toe the line” is given when somebody is
threatening to “step out of line” and behave in a way that breaks the rules.
But where does the phrase originate? There are British and American accounts
that offer an explanation, but - as one might expect – the American one can be
discounted as complete nonsense!
The American version
According to the US Navy, toeing the line has to do with an
old shipboard tradition. This refers to the lines on board a ship’s wooden deck
that marked where one plank abutted another. In order to make the cracks
between the planks watertight they would be packed with “oakum” (old rope that
had been picked apart and the fibres beaten into a solid dense mass) then
sealed with tar and pitch. The deck would thus appear to have a number of dead
straight dark lines on it.
The custom on board ship was for groups of sailors to parade
on deck and assemble in a particular area. The front rank would have their toes
just touching one of the dark lines. Also, a naval punishment was for the
miscreant to stand motionless for a long period of time with their toes just
touching a line – in other words, toeing the line.
The British version
The relates to a strange feature of the House of Commons
(the lower of the two Houses of Parliament). The Members sit facing each other,
with the government benches to the right of the Speaker’s chair and the
Opposition benches to the left. For most of the length of the chamber there is
only an open floor that separates the two sides, so a Member of Parliament
could – if so inclined – walk across the chamber and physically assault someone
with whom he or she disagreed.
In past times, it was not unknown for Members to carry
swords with them, so steps were taken to ensure that swordfights could not break
out across the floor of the chamber. What Parliament’s managers did was to
paint two red lines along the length of the floor, one in front of each front
bench. It was reckoned that if you did not cross the line, your sword could not
reach a sword wielded by someone who was standing behind the opposite line.
You can think what you like about the logic behind the
assumption that somebody who was angry enough to draw their sword in the House
of Commons would be restrained by a red line on the floor, but that is what was
done.
The authority of the Speaker has always been paramount in
the House, so if he called on someone to “toe the line”, thus keeping the whole
of the foot behind it, they would do so without question.
Nobody these days carries a sword with them, but the red
lines are still there on the floor. (As it happens, the coat hooks in the
Members’ cloakroom have an extra loop that is there for the express purpose of
allowing Members to hang their swords on them before proceeding to the
chamber!) It is still customary for Members to stand behind the line when
addressing the House, so it does have a function to perform even now.
So there you have it – I’ll go for the British version of
the phrase’s origin every time!
© John Welford
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