Word of the Day: Cue/Queue

cue / kyo͞o

noun

1.     the letter “Q”, ”q”

In the English language, when spelling words, the letter Q is almost always followed by the letter U.

2.     a rod used to hit a billiard ball or used to shove disks in shuffleboard

In snooker, it’s very important to keep very still on the shot and allow the cue to do the work.

Stephen Hendry, 1969 –

3.     a signal used to prompt a performer during a performance

Don’t worry if you miss your cue, because there’s always doors opening.

Jim Carrey, 1962 –

4.     a signal or hint

Acting is the ability to dream on cue.

Ralph Richardson, 1902-1983

5.     a stimulus used to provoke a certain reaction

Rather, to change a habit, you must keep the old cue, and deliver the old reward, but insert a new routine.

Charles Duhigg, 1974 –

verb

1.     to strike a ball (in billiards) or shove a disk (in shuffleboard) with a rod

“I cued the ball well and enjoyed it,” world number five Trump told World Snooker’s official website.

“Welsh snooker star Mark Williams knocked out World Grand Prix in Llandudno”, https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/other-sport/welsh-snooker-star-mark-williams-11017218, 3/9/2016

2.     to provide with a hint or signal

We are cued to laugh or cry, be frightened or relieved; Hitchcock called the movies a machine for causing emotions in the audience.

Roger Ebert, 1942 – 2013

Develop enough tension and cue the music right, then have something jump out: It’s almost impossible not to jump in your seat.

Daniel Myrick, 1962 –

4.     to position to play

Cue up the Christmas music for the most wonderful time of year.

Jay Monson, “Herald Journal” News, 11-26-2018

queue / kyo͞o

noun

1.     a line waiting for something

There is no queue at the gate of Patience.

Moroccan Proverb

2.     a succession of data awaiting processing

A queue is useful in producer/consumer situations, where one portion of code is creating data to be used by another portion.

https://knowledge.ni.com/KnowledgeArticleDetails?id=kA00Z000000P7OfSAK, updated 3-5-2019

3.     hair gathered at the back of the head to form a braid; a pigtail

His blue-black queue, freshly oiled, gleamed like the coils of an active hill snake.

From “Peter the Brazen” by George F. Worts, 1892 – 1967

verb

1.     to line up

I hate flying, airports and the whole rigmarole – queuing up, security and lost luggage.

Johnny Vegas, 1971 –

2.     to place in a sequence

You just put it on your DVR, or queue it up on your computer, and it’s an on-demand and instant access world.

Joseph McGinty Nichol, 1968 –

3.     to braid hair to form a pigtail

Gilman dressed himself in a fashionable suit of the period, made up of gingham, queued his hair with a yard and a half of black ribbon to the size and thickness of a corn-cob, greased it with a candle and plastered it with flour, tied on his heavy brogans and donned his wool hat, mounted his ” Dobbin gray,” like the wooer in the old ballad, and jogged off to the cabin of the Doans.

From “Cleveland Illustrated: A Pictorial Handbook of the Forest City, Together With an Account of Its Most Attractive Suburbs” by William H. Payne, ? – ?