“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). Although a few dictionaries accept “cue” as an alternative spelling for the braided tail some people make of their hair or a waiting line, traditionally both are queues: “Sun Yat Sen ordered that all Chinese men should cut off their queues,” “I have over 300 movies in my Netflix queue.”

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