In American English, we use the word line to refer to a row of people or vehicles waiting for something. The British use the term queue instead.
In American English, we use the word line to refer to a row of people or vehicles waiting for something. The British use the term queue instead.
There was a long line in front of the store. (American English)
There was a long queue in front of the store. (British English)
When using the verbs be, stand, or wait, Americans omit the article (a/the) before «line» to say:
- Be in line
- Get in line
- Stand in line
- Wait in line
I had to wait in line for twenty minutes. (American English)
British speakers, by contrast, usually include an article (a/the) in sentences like this:
She stood in a queue for two hours. (British English)
More examples:
Let’s wait in line. (American English)
Let’s get in the queue. (British English)
When someone goes in front of others waiting, Americans use the expression «cut in line» while the British version of this idiom is «jump the queue».
Don’t cut in line! (American English)
Don’t jump the queue! (British English)
In American English, «queue» is generally reserved for computer science or technical usage. It can be used to describe a set of jobs waiting to be done by a computer or device. For example, we say «a FIFO queue» (first in, first out) or «a LIFO queue» (last in, first out).
The president of the United States had used the word «queue,» typically used by Brits, rather than «line,» considered the proper term in American English.
Likewise, is queue a British word?
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first usage of “queue”—as “a line or sequence of people, vehicles, etc., waiting their turn to proceed, or to be attended to”—appears in the Scottish historian Thomas Carlyle’s 1837 The French Revolution: A History. By OED definition, the word is “chiefly British.”
Secondly, are in the queue?
One of the words that people are looking for when they look up que is queue, a word that means “line” (as in, “We waited in the ticket queue.”) Sometimes people are looking for the homonym cue, or “a signal to start or do something” (“The lights just went out—that’s my cue to start the movie.”).
What do they call a line in England?
Such a group of people is known as a queue (British usage) or line (American usage), and the people are said to be waiting or standing in a queue or in line, respectively. (In the New York City area, the phrase on line is often used in place of in line.)
Is it cue up or queue up?
For example, the phrase cue up is used when positioning an audio or video in readiness for playing. A radio talk show might ask his producer to cue up clip 17. Similarly, the phrase queue up is used when someone is lining up. Air travelers queue up when their plane is boarding.
Write Your Answer
На тему различий американского и британского английского можно говорить бесконечно. В этой статье Сэм напомнит, как слово «очередь» звучит в Британии и Штатах, а также познакомит нас с другими малоизвестными словами, которые имеют разные значения в некоторых англоязычных странах.
Sometimes I share vocabulary with my students from different versions of the English language. In America and Canada there are some words that are completely different from those in the UK, Ireland, and other English-speaking countries. For example:
diapers (USA) = nappies (UK) — подгузники
car hood (USA) = car bonnet (UK) — капот автомобиля
line (USA) = queue (UK) — очередь
Other times we have the same word, but use it in different ways. For example:
A biscuit in the US is a type of bread, but a crunchy sweet round food in the UK.
Chips are a crispy thinly-sliced snack in the US, but sticks of potato fried and eaten as part of a main meal in the UK.
Football is another example of a word used in a different way in America. Football in the US is something comparable to Rugby in the UK, but with a lot of padded equipment and different rules. It’s a very popular sport there, but in the UK, the other version of football, also known as soccer, is the most popular sport.
It’s likely that if you have been learning English for a while, you will already know all these variants. But did you know that in Ireland football is often called soccer too? This is because they have their own, very popular version of football, it’s Gaelic football, which allows players to handle the ball as well as kick it.
Hope this was useful and Interesting.
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WordReference Random House Learner’s Dictionary of American English © 2023 queue /kyu/USA pronunciation
v.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2023 queue
v.i., v.t. queu′er, n. Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers:: queue /kjuː/ chiefly Brit n
vb (queues, queuing, queueing, queued)
‘queue‘ also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations): |
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What do you usually say, depending on the context and depending if it’s US or UK English?
wait in line or queue
A E
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asked Oct 2, 2012 at 11:41
6
In US English, the thing is:
a line
(‘waiting line’ is not used).
To be on it is
to wait in line
To add to it is:
to get in line
answered Oct 2, 2012 at 12:11
MitchMitch
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1
queue (UK)
I never «wait in line». I always «queue».
answered Oct 2, 2012 at 11:55
SukeSuke
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In the US it’s always line. I haven’t heard anyone say, waiting in queue or queued for food. The NOAD also marks it chiefly Brit.
That said, queue is pretty common when it comes to computers. And in some areas it may refer to a braid of hair worn at the back.
«Samurai shaved the tops of their heads and then gathered hair from the sides and back together into a queue. They applied oil to the queue before doubling it forward over the crown, then tying it at the point where it was doubled over.»
answered Oct 2, 2012 at 12:15
NoahNoah
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Wait on line in New York City. Wait in line in the rest of the US.
Good discussion here
Supposedly, New Yorkers wait on line because of Ellis Island having had painted lines on the floors. New immigrants were told to wait «on the line.» And, it has changed our local lexicon. (i.e. It is a shibboleth.)
answered Feb 17, 2014 at 20:48
David MDavid M
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No one in the US ever really says queue. We say ‘get on line’, ‘wait in line’, ‘don’t cut the line’, ‘line up’, ‘what a long line!’, ‘make a line’, ‘form a line’, etc. Queue is reserved for technical usage, such as in computer science where one might create a queue of objects. A LIFO queue (last in, first out), a FIFO queue (first in, first out) are common computer programming constructs. There is no right or wrong. Language is dynamic, ever-changing and tied to whatever is ‘normal’ for a given culture. What may sound correct to British ears sounds outright funny to American ears and vice-versa, but that’s ok. It surely keeps things interesting!
answered Feb 17, 2014 at 20:28
In an English school you will hear a teacher say ‘line up!’ as a command though. He will not say ‘queue!’ as a command.
answered Feb 18, 2014 at 0:01
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