Welcome to the Grammar Minute, where we’re saving the English language sixty seconds at a time! I’m Lauren Smyth, and I’m currently waiting on an important email.

[wrong buzzer]

Waiting on something implies that I am serving it. This makes no sense in the context of emails, unless I’m expected to dress up in a butler suit and serve champagne to my inbox, which is something that I feel like I do anyway as a slave to modern technology. The proper phrase is waiting for, which implies that time is passing and I am ready for something to occur. These two phrases are often used as if they mean the same thing, but let’s set the record straight once and for all: They don’t.

To recap: Waiting on means to serve. Waiting for means—well, exactly what it sounds like it means.

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