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Prescribe or proscribe

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Mollygo Mon 08-Jun-26 16:30:11

I’ve just read about toeing the proscribed line.
It sounded wrong to me so I looked it up.

Prescribe means to recommend, authorize, or lay down a rule (e.g., a doctor's medicine), while proscribe means to forbid, ban, or make illegal (e.g., a banned organization

What do you think?

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Doodledog Mon 08-Jun-26 16:32:59

I think those definitions are correct.

Am I missing something?

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valdali Mon 08-Jun-26 16:35:57

Yeah, I think they meant toeing the prescribed line, Mollygo

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Mollygo Mon 08-Jun-26 16:36:20

So we should toe the forbidden line i.e. do the things that are forbidden?

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argymargy Mon 08-Jun-26 16:52:07

Just another example (far too many these days and I blame Americans, of course) of using too many words. Why not just say "toeing the line" - we all know what it means. It is both necessary and sufficient.

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Doodledog Mon 08-Jun-26 16:56:21

Maybe if you cut and paste the phrase in context it would make more sense?

I suppose people can toe whichever lines they like - pre or proscribed, but one is likely to have better consequences than the other.

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Mollygo Mon 08-Jun-26 17:09:26

valdali

Yeah, I think they meant toeing the prescribed line, Mollygo

Thanks Vivaldi

And yes argymargy just toeing the line would have been sufficient.

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MawsRosie Mon 08-Jun-26 17:09:33

Different words, different meanings.
At least they got “toeing the line right”!

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