![]() ![]() The word is spelled cue in A Midsummer’s Dream (1600) Bottom the Weaver is bossing his fellow actors:Ĭurst be thy stones, for thus deceiuing mee. The OED lists several historical spellings of cue in the sense of an actor’s signal, but the list does not include the spelling queue: The expression “to take one’s cue” is from the figurative use of a theatrical term:Ĭue: The concluding word or words of a speech in a play, serving as a signal or direction to another actor to enter, or begin his speech. Queue, a French borrowing with the literal meaning of “tail,” is sometimes spelled cue in the context of hair: cue/queue: A long roll or plait of hair worn hanging down behind like a tail, from the head or from a wig a pigtail. If the bride and groom are uptight and nervous the whole wedding takes their queue from them.Ĭue and queue are both pronounced like the name of the letter Q. The populace takes their queue from people of influence who are either silent on the matter… are outrightly vocalising their contempt… au government takes their queue and busts it in half. Everyone else takes their queue from that. and in at least one printed book.ĭeron is on half speed one game, full speed another game. I found examples on sites in the U.K., Australia, and Jamaica, as well as in the U.S. And don’t pounce on the Americans the misuse is global. The mistaken use of queue for cue was a new one for me, so I did a web search to see if this reviewer had company. Take one’s cue: use someone else’s behavior as a model for one’s own. The tool’s manufacturers have “taken their cue” from Apple. The writer is criticizing the fact that the consumer cannot replace the tool’s battery because, like the batteries in some Apple devices, it’s sealed. This happens to be one of our common gripes: that once the battery is end-of-life, we are pretty much forced to get a replacement unit since the battery takes a queue from Apple and is sealed inside the casing. The first time I read the following passage, I thought the use of the word queue must be arcane computer science jargon, but when I read it a second time, I realized the spelling queue in this context was just a mistake: ![]()
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