"A live wire is a wire with current flowing through it. Because neutral
doesn't have any current in it, but line does, you could say that line
is live. This explains why that you can be shocked from touching just
the line. You can't be by touching just the neutral or ground. Line to
neutral is the most deadliest if it travels across you. Line to ground
will tingle a lot, but it won't necessarily kill you because the current
draw isn't nearly as much as line to neutral."

from: http://www.answers.com/Q/Is_line_wir...lled_live_wire

Bill