I am in receipt of your “tweet” dated 21 June, 2008, in which you suggest that my tweet of the same day, in which I refer to an “Actual fork in the road,” should have been characterized as a “fork ON the road.”

A fork “on the road,” or “in the road?” You be the judge

While I have not located any definitive reference citations to support my contention, I would argue that there is much precedence for the use of “in” in this context, notwithstanding that I was trying to create a linkage between the actual fork I discovered, and the colloquial expression “fork in the road” having nothing really to do with cutlery.

There are dozens of situations in which “in” is used in common parlance in connection with streets and roads, even when, more accurately, something might be said to be “on.” We would never say, for example, “the plate is in the table,” but we would say:

• Why is that man standing in the street?
• That car is stopped in the middle of the road?
• There’s a bump in the road.
• There’s a dog in the street.

In each of these examples, replacing “in” with “on” would be awkward and uncommon, or dare I say, wrong. This usage is highly variable with other forms of streets. One might say “in the highway,” though that is a bit stilted, but one would not say “in the freeway.” (Brits and Canadians might.) Jack Kerouac would say “On the Road,” but it seems only when we are talking about a person traveling, or en route do we say “on the road” vs. “in the road.” For example, we are “On the Road to Mandalay,” but not in it.

I would be interested in any “official” rulings on this point.

I remain, your friend in letters,

J.R. Postman

Tags: on the road, in the road, rayanne langdon, fork in the road