-LINE

combining form (Lifestyle and Leisure) (People and Society) A telephone service. (Usually as the second element of a compound name, the first part of which describes the purpose or target of the service.) Etymology: From the noun line in the sense 'telephone connection', perhaps with some conscious alteration of hotline (see below). History and Usage: A well-known early example of this use was the so-called hotline, or emergency telephone link, set up between the US and the Soviet Union in the early sixties. During the seventies some organizations offering help or advice, especially in emergencies, would call the service a hotline, but from the beginning of the eighties the first part started to be replaced by some other word describing the service. Any service that offered help and advice to people in difficulty was named a helpline, with hotline now reserved for matters of extreme urgency (although this apparently includes 'rushing' orders to mail-order companies!). Helplines devoted to particular types of advice are sometimes named accordingly--for example Aidsline for people with Aids, Childline for children in trouble or danger (especially as a result of child abuse), Parentline for parents who need advice about their children. The helpline which simply gives the caller a chance to talk over the problem with an anonymous helper is also often called a talkline. In the second half of the eighties there was public consternation over the high telephone bills run up by teenagers using a service called a chatline, which allowed them to take part in a conference call with other youngsters who just wanted a chat. In the UK, the familiar speaking clock has been renamed Timeline, and a service allowing a business to pay for the calls made direct to it by prospective customers is known as Linkline. Many formations using -line are trade marks and are therefore written with a capital initial. Although Jenni seems to have the only official help-line in the country for battered husbands, there are other places where men can go for help. Woman 20 Feb. 1988, p. 13 The controversial telephone chatlines, withdrawn earlier this year after complaints about exorbitant bills, are likely to be allowed to resume in the near future. The Times 28 July 1989, p. 3 Since the beginning of 1988, 13 volunteers have run a 'telephone friendline' for latchkey children--youngsters who return to empty homes after school--in La Verne and San Dimas. Los Angeles Times 7 Sept. 1989, section 9, p. 8 The Wellington Parentline, a telephone advice service, has received 32 calls reporting violence from children towards parents. Independent 29 Jan. 1990, p. 8