wait for / on

Hi Couchpotato,

Great name you chose!

I think you can use either one in your example. I'm waiting for you and I'm waiting on you.

They have a different meaning.

You wait for the person you are supposed to meet.

A waiter waits on the customers in a restaurant, that is he serves them, pours wine and water, takes the orders aso...

Hi Pieanne,

I think that the meaning is the same concerning the example sentences. Could it be that one is non-standard or maybe one is used more often in BE or AE?

I think, in the meaning of , you know, looking at your watch and tapping your foot, you wait on something, not someone. See Cambridge here: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/results.asp?searchword=wait

Actually waiting on (for) someone is non-standard and is sometimes, if not often, heard in the southern states of the US. Just read a John Grisham book. Does this mean it's grammatically correct. Perhaps not. But it is used and is understood in context and that's the point of communication. Sometimes the nitty gritty can be too much.

I agree with Pieanne about the standard use of "waiting for" and "waiting on". I also agree with Anonymous that "waiting on" is used in place of "waiting for" and that the substitution is fairly common but not standard.

CJ

Hi Pieanne!

Why do you say "you wait on something, not someone" (my bolds) if you had previously written "a waiter waits on the customers in a restaurant, that is he serves them, pours wine and water, takes the orders aso.."? Aren't "customers" people?

Thanks!

Mara.

RiglosHi Pieanne!

Why do you say "you wait on something, not someone" (my bolds) if you had previously written "a waiter waits on the customers in a restaurant, that is he serves them, pours wine and water, takes the orders aso.."? Aren't "customers" people?

Thanks!

Mara.

Mara,

In this

Riglos
Hi Pieanne!

Why do you say "you wait on something, not someone" (my bolds) if you had previously written "a waiter waits on the customers in a restaurant, that is he serves them, pours wine and water, takes the orders aso.."? Aren't "customers" people?

Thanks!

Mara.

Of course they are

Dear friends,

I have heard «to wait on» often in British English. It is my belief that we may say «wait on» if one event is dependent upon another event. Therefore «I am waiting on your letter» means that I do not act until your letter has arrived.

It is a most useful phrase.