To say the word is CUE and if you don’t know that then why not use a different word?

[UnsolicitedOpinions]

So many people on here want to use the word “cue” as in “cue DS throwing his toys out of the pram.” People seem to want to use this phrase much more often in writing here than I would hear people use it in real life.

But why use a word when you don’t understand what the word is or how to spell it?

I’ve seen so many different versions in posts on MN - “queue,” “Q”and just now “qué,” which is the most ridiculous yet.

AIBU to say the word you are looking for is “CUE” and if you are not sure then maybe use a different phrase?

It's hard to know you're spelling something wrong if you think you're right!
I am dyslexic and if spell check doesn't flag it then it's hard to know.

But thank you for pointing this out as now I know and it might stick.

I have no idea of the point you are making OP!

Meh. Language is all about communication and if you can understand what's being said for me that's all that matters.

If you've never been taught, how are you supposed to know you're using the wrong word?

All those words are spelt right, they're just used in the wrong circumstances so won't be flagged up by a spell check.

What don’t you understand?

Agree. I hate the whole "cue", "fast forward" thing anyway. They're stage directions, they don't belong in what is usually a fairly mundane (and possibly quite boring) anecdote.

Exactly - it’s not necessary to use that phrase so why go out of your way to if you don’t even know what the word is?

I saw that post with Que . Little accent on the e 🥴

Reminded me of Fawlty Towers

@UnsolicitedOpinions - you say people are using the word “cue” as if they shouldn’t be then go on to say the word they are looking for is cue.

I do use cue in real life. I was super puzzled by what was meant by qué in a recent thread - thanks for clearing that up. BTW I am dyslexic.

Perhaps not everyone is lucky to get the education you did OP.

Qué is confusing since it isn’t even pronounced the same! Queue is slightly more understandable but it’s one of those ones where if people thought about it for a second they would realise it didn’t make any sense.

It is correct usage though, you might not like it because it's colloquial, there are various colloquial uses of language which annoy me (the current use of "POV" in tiktok, reels etc being one) but that doesn't mean they are incorrect.

It comes from stage directions. A cue in theatre means that an action or line is a prompt for an actor to do something themselves. So you might hear a director say something like "Andrew, you finish singing, cue Laura, enter stage right"

So people are using it correctly - event A "cues" their toddler to throw his toys out of the pram. DD screaming, cue DS throwing toys out of pram. One event leads to the other. "Right on cue" is another common expression from the same root.

No - I said they WANT to use the word “cue” but they are using “queue” or “qué”

Yes - I know - that’s the whole point of the thread!! That’s it’s “cue” not fucking “qué” or “queue.”

I don’t get the logic of being angry that people don’t know things.

Oh I see. Well that's just one of a billion examples of bad spelling.

At least in this case cue and queue are homonyms, and there is a certain logic to the idea that action 1 "queues" action 2, even though the actual verb is to cue - maybe if they don't have a theatre background, they don't realise that as they may have only heard it used verbally. In fact, in computer programming, to queue an action would be much more logical.

@UnsolicitedOpinions Yes - I know - that’s the whole point of the thread!! That’s it’s “cue” not fucking “qué” or “queue.”

'That's it's "cue"'
What does that mean?

There's lots of words people don't know how to spell if they've only ever heard them said.

I see que/queue a lot here though. I've wondered if people start to doubt themselves using cue because they see queue/que so much and start using the wrong word in error assuming everyone else is right.

@UnsolicitedOpinions

Have you fucked up telling everyone that someone else has fucked up?

People in glass houses.....

I've seen someone post it as 'coup' (the context made it clear that it was meant to be cue) which I thought was a fairly impressive misspelling tbf

Yes haha, funnily enough I don’t think that’s correct, though.

Well done for pointing it out twice within 1 minute though!

Oh dear

Ah right - so when you say they “want” to use “cue”, you mean they “should be” using “cue”? Is that not incorrect use of the word “want”?