- By Jim Evans
- Entertainment
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Smart Talk SMART TALK By Dr. Viva Palaver
WAITING ON: As staff psychologist at the Institute for the Linguistically Impaired, I often notice the interesting emotional issues behind mistakes in usage.
Take the reputation of New Yorkers, for instance. I mean natives of New York City, of course, because in Texas, New York means the city, not the state.
Anyway, New Yorkers have a reputation here in the hinterlands for their aggressiveness and antagonism. But I suspect that deep down, they want to help and serve others.
My suspicion comes from their habit of waiting on line rather than in line. To wait on is to serve, as at table. These people are clearly waiting in a line of people, but they insist they’re waiting on line, as if their feet covered a stripe on the pavement.
Perhaps these good people believe they wait on each other by being patient and orderly in line. Isn’t that sweet?
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