Line

Question

Hi to all the English experts,

I saw quite a few nouns with a -line ending or appear in a compound noun.

1. day line - what does line mean here?

2. night line, such as night line news - what does line mean here?

3. lifeline - what does line mean here?

4. A company called 'Priceline'. what does line mean here?

5. on-line access.

6. assembly line.

7. streamline

Thanks,

Note: Doesn't a 'line' originally mean a string or a row? I wonder if you know the reasons why
the word line is so used.

Julielai · Accepted Answer

Bottom line

sideline

headline

by-line (by E. M. Forster, by Charles Dickens)

redline

skyline

Mister Micawber · Answer

Doesn't a 'line' originally mean a string or a row?

Yes, it does, Guest, and if you think a bit, you should be able to see how a string, an attenuated binding or connecting device, relates to the meanings of all your words. Think of both the shape and the function of a 'line'.

Meantolearn · Answer

Hi Mr. M. or other Englishpros,

I'm still puzzled with your enlightenment. Please elaborate on your viewpoints more.

1. day line - what does line mean here?
Do you consider day as a line? like considering time as a line, such as time line?

2. night line, such as night line news - what does line mean here?
Do you consider night as a line? like considering time as a line, such as time line?

3. lifeline - what does line mean here?
Do you consider line as a cord that can save others' lives?

4. A company called 'Priceline'. what does line mean here?
I have no idea. What do you think?

5. on-line access.
Do you mean the Inter-networking has millions of lines connected?

6. assembly line.
Do you mean a factory has long rows for assembling parts?

7. streamline
Here line probably means curve lines, in short, curves. What do you think?

Bottom line
well, probably you can imagine there's a line in the lowest acceptable situation.

sideline
- a line marking the side areas of play, especially for football

headline
A row of large-sized text at the top of an article

by-line (by E. M. Forster, by Charles Dickens)
a line at the top of a newspaper or magazine article giving the writer's name

redline
I thought it was a noun, but it turned out to be a verb after looking up a dictionary.
redline
• verb N. Amer. informal
1 drive with (the car engine) at its maximum rpm. 2 refuse (a loan or insurance) to someone due to their area of residence.
— ORIGIN from the use of red as a limit marker, in sense 2 a ring marking part of a map.

skyline
- an outline of land and buildings defined against the sky.

Thanks,

Mister Micawber · Answer

Good morning, Meantolearn. Thanks for registering at English Forums.

I think you have done a good job of examining the 'line' meanings. Some comments:

(1) I don't have any idea what 'day line' means 'here', because you have supplied no context. Googling 'day line' produces several possibilities, for instance the name of a railway line.

(2) 'Night line', as in the news, came from, I believe, the days when news was received by telegraph.

(3) 'Lifeline' is what they throw you if you fall off a ship. It has a life preserver tied to its end.

(4) It's a company name, so you will have to ask them. A product line? A telephone line to get a good price?

(6) An assembly 'line' is a line of workers, each adding a part when the product rolls past on a conveyor belt.

(8) The bottom line is the last line of numerals in an added list: the total.

It looks like you've got all the others figured out. You did well-- and that's no line!

Meantolearn · Answer

Hi Mr. M.,

Thank you so much for your help. I appreciate your 'enlightenment'.

(8) The bottom line has its figurative meaning
- the most important fact in a situation:
e.g. The bottom line is that we need another ten thousand dollars to complete the project.

at the end you wrote:
"It looks like you've got all the others figured out. You did well-- and that's no line!"

What do you mean by 'no line'??? What does line mean here?

Thanks,

CalifJim · Answer

OK, Mr. Micawber. You got yourself into it, now let's see you get yourself out of it!

I presume you meant "That's no line of bull!" ?

CJ

Mister Micawber · Answer

Yes indeed-- I signed off with benevolence aforethought, Meantolearn, and Jim has already supplied one example, a 'line of bull'. A 'line' here, like an actor's lines (each actor's speech starts on a new line of the paper), are prepared comments intended to convince the listener, and usually used with less than honest intent.

A 'line of bull' is simply a well-rehearsed lie or stupidity ('***' is 'a common English expletive meaning "humbug" or "nonsense." It implies that the purveyor of alleged nonsense is willfully lying, or that he/she is speaking boldly from ignorance')

Wooers often feed their lovers 'a line'-- deceitful expressions of infatuation. Salesman have 'lines'-- otherwise called sales pitches-- with which they convince unwary housewives to buy cemetery plots and stove brushes.

All these lines come from a line of words, strung like glass beads on a necklace to attract the easily duped; or from a fishing line to lure a black bass to its doom.

Meantolearn · Answer

What does b.s. stand for?

- bachelor of science

Mister Micawber · Answer

Are you answering your own question? Then you don't need us. But there are some [url="http://www.acronymfinder.com/af-query.asp?String=exact&Acronym=bs&Find=Find"]OPTIONS[/url].

Anonymous · Answer

I need your help.

Ray Nagin, mayor of New Orleans, said "They're feeding the people a line of bull, and they are spinning and people are dying…Get off your ***** and let’s do something.”

How is it? Can you say "feed somebody something" or it is only a jargon? Better to say "feed somebody with something"?

Which one is correct from the following sentenses, if I want to say it to my girlfriend?

You are feeding me a line of bull.

You are feeding me line of bull. (lines of bull, line of bulls, lines of bulls? hm. in plural?)

You are feeding me with line of bull.

Well it is not possible to understand anything but your mother tonque.

Thanks a lot.

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