Grammar Nazi Returns (Briefly)

I had retired the Grammar Nazi, having hoisted myself by my own petard a few too many times as I corrected others’ mistakes.

But this, folks, this is just bad.

Here’s the flub:

Queue: A noun meaning a line, or a verb meaning to form a line.

Cue: A noun meaning a signal, or a verb meaning to signal.

Both are pretty much pronounced the same if you’re a phonics-loving honyoch. But they do not mean the same nor should they be used interchangeably.

I think a lot of people are proud they can spell queue correctly, so that’s the default word they use. But nine times out of ten, it seems, they mean to use cue when they’re too anxious to show off their spelling skills, such as from this comment at Consumerist.com:

queue the masses flowing to small claims court(who also get their service cut off by At&t for doing so). Did anyone else read about At&t threatening to cancel this guy's service for suing them?

(Head to 3:38 for the pertinent section. Notice Neal uses “queueing” correctly.)