He might not like the rules but he'll toe the line just to avoid trouble. Ministers who refused to toe the Party line were swiftly got rid of.

My comments:

“Toe the line” is one of the more commonplace jargons one sees in reports on politics.

The line refers to the line along which a political party travels, i.e. its central tenets or doctrines.

To toe the line is for a party member to walk that line carefully, i.e. not to say or do anything in contrary.

Yes, “toe” suggests it’s done carefully. To walk the line, you see, suggests you’re doing it you’re your whole feet. To toe the line, on the other hand, means you’re walking on tiptoes.

Well, politics being politics, perhaps it is just as well.

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Go to Zhang Xin's column

本文僅代表作者本人觀點，與本網立場無關。歡迎大家討論學術問題，尊重他人，禁止人身攻擊和發布一切違反國家現行法律法規的內容。

About the author:

Zhang Xin（張欣） has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.