Train of thought VS Line of thought

You know how you’d be thinking of this or that, or gisting, and then one thing would distract you- one fine passerby, a cute baby cooing on your phone, someone’s interjection, a flashback or some other more interesting thought- and you’d have to start trying to recollect your initial thought? Talmbout “oh, where was I?” or “what was I even saying?” The expression for this attempt to recollect, is that you are trying to get back your train of thought. So, what we’ll be checking today is if we can also say that you are trying to get back your line of thought; that is, we want to find out if both expressions mean the same thing.

The train of thought or track of thought refers to the sequence of ideas expressed during a connected exchange/thought and how this sequence flows from one idea to the other. Not every thought should follow every thought- for example, in an introductory paragraph, the “definition” sentence will most likely precede the “classification of…” sentence and the “examples of…” sentence. There is an order, a sequence…or there should be, if you are going to make any sense.

Your train of thought can be as complicated as a series of ideas that lead to a specific conclusion or as simple as a set of thoughts that happen to flit though your head.

“…so, you find yourself locked onto an unpleasant train of thought, headed for places in your past where the screaming is unavoidable…”

To lose your train of thought is to forget what you were going to say next, after the thing you said last. Train of thought is a metaphor, describing thoughts in motion. We think of so many things, even subconsciously and it is possible to lose track of one thought or the other. Imagine thinking about what colour of socks would match your outfit for the day and in that moment, your flatmate yells your name. Ofcourse, you’d get distracted.

“I’m talking too fast, I keep losing my train of thought.”

Line of thought, on the other hand is a noun. It refers to a particular way of considering a matter. For instance, one line of thought is that police brutality affects all genders equally. Some people say that certain lines of thought are usually characteristic of certain individuals or groups; this is why the expression “falling into a line of thought” is thought to mean adhering to established rules or a predetermined course of action. For example, “the idea falls in line with the entire vision of the company”.

“That’s a very mature line of thought.”

So, although some persons might be using both expressions interchangeably around you, I don’t think they are essentially the same.

If you’d like to learn a little more, you could look up the following: Stream of consciousness, Chain of thought, Line of reasoning.