'End of the line' or 'End of line'? [closed]
As an English learning student, I'm having a trouble understanding the differences of these 3 expressions.
- The end of line
- End of the line
- End of line
Could someone explain the differences please?
Solution 1:
The first is noun phrase and the second is (normally) an adjective.
End of the line.
This is a phrase that is talking about the final stop in a destination. It originates from railways and the end of a physical railway track. Villains have been known to comically say, "This is the end of the line for you!"
End of line.
This is normally not used in conversation. In programming terms, it's an adjective for an invisible character that is, literally, a marker for the end of a line of code. (An end-of-line character.) In the movie Tron, the computer-based antagonist said "end of line" at the end of conversations rather than "goodbye." That's the only situation I know of when it's been used in any way other than, strictly speaking, programming terms.
Per a comment, I've also been told that end of line can be used as an adjective in retail to describe products that are no longer being made (or sold): it's an end-of-line product.