Wait for/on

I occasionally hear people use "wait on" instead of "wait for" (here in the northeastern US). "Wait for" is much more common. There is an interesting write-up about "wait on" in the usage notes here: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wait+

Hi Yankee,
Thank you for your reply. Are wait for and wait on the same in meaning?

Thanks in advance.

If one is waiting around for a phone to ring, then either could be used, but the first I would say, is better.
The second I would use if I was actually on a call, and have been put on hold.
The meaning would be derived from the context in which they are used rather than which preposition is used.

YankeeThere is an interesting write-up about "wait on" ...

Very interesting. I never use "wait on" unless it's a case of a restaurant waiter or waitress "waiting on me" or "waiting on tables"! All other uses of "wait on" seem wrong to my ear -- including the examples in that usage note! Maybe I'm just too old-fashioned?

CJ

You'll also hear people say "wait on line" in my neck of the woods, even though "wait in line" is (in my opinion) more commonly used. I just took a peek at COCA, and the fact that the very first hits for "wait on" were not related to serving someone or waiting tables did surprise me a bit:

- It's something you wait on all year long and it's almost like the Sup

YankeeAnd we can wait on it for now.

This one strikes me as different from the others. You?

We can [wait / postpone any decisions / hold off] -- for now -- [on / with regard to] [it / that (matter)].

Here on strikes me as prepositional rather than as the adverbial particle of the phrasal verb wait