If I happen to forget your suggestion, don’t hesitate to give me the cue too. You are not telling them to “start the music now.”ĭo you have a suggestion for a future Grammar 101 post? Let me know and I’ll add it to the queue of topics. You are telling them to set up the “queue” of tracks. With “queue the music,” you are likely telling someone to organize the song list in a certain order. Although a few dictionaries accept cue as an alternative spelling for the braided tail some. Both cue and queue are pronounced like the letter Q, and are considered to be homophones. The most common meaning of the word queue is a waiting line which could be of people or things. 1500) perhaps led to the extended sense of 'line of people, etc.' (1837), but this use in English is perhaps directly from French (queue queue, 'one after another' appears in early 19c. When do you cue, and when do you queue Cue typically refers to a signal that encourages someone to take an action, while queue indicates an ordered line or file. Queue also functions as a noun and a verb. A metaphoric extension to 'line of dancers' (c. Going back to the example above, you could also tell someone to “queue the music.” This has quite a different meaning from “cue the music,” however. Cue has a variety of meanings, but all uses of queue relate to its original French meaning of tail, which becomes a metaphor for a line (beware, however: in French queue is also rude slang for the male sex organ). English, 'tail of a beast,' especially in heraldry. It can also mean to arrange people (or things) in a certain order. Similarly, the verb to queue means to form or join this lineup. A queue is a line handled on a first come, first served basis. For example, comments on this blog can sometimes be held in the moderation queue, waiting for approval. However, it can also refer to things other than people. This usually implies a group of people waiting in line, as would be the case at the cash register at a supermarket. When you tell someone to “cue the music,” you are telling them to “start the music now.” Similarly, to cue (as a verb) refers to the act of providing this signal to begin. In the context of a stage play, for example, one actor’s cue to begin his soliloquy is when the spotlight is cast on him. Both queue and cue can be used as both nouns and verbs, causing possibly even further confusion.Ĭue, as a noun, is a signal to begin. In this way, you should be careful about which word you choose to write under which circumstances. They’re both pronounced the same way, but they do not have the same meaning. One such homophone pair is queue and cue. These homophones can be incredibly confusing. However, just because we hear these words does not mean that we know how to spell them, particularly when there are words that sound exactly the same while having vastly different meanings. We hear them in casual conversation, on television, and in public places.

Line cue or queue