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QUEUE

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Originally appearing in Volume V22, Page 745 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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QUEUE or CUE (from Fr. queue, O. Fr. cue, See also:

Lat. cauda, tail), a tail of See also:hair, either of the natural hair when so worn or of a See also:wig, plaited together and tied with ribbon, See also:hanging down the back of the See also:neck. In See also:Europe and See also:European colonies and settlements this method of wearing the hair prevailed after the heavy periwig had gone out of See also:fashion. The bob-wig or tie-wig with the queue survives in the See also:English See also:barrister's wig. In the second See also:half of the 18th See also:century the queue was worn thick and See also:short and sometimes encased in See also:leather, when it was termed a " See also:club." In the See also:navy and See also:army the queue survived its disuse in See also:civil See also:life. The three pieces of See also:black See also:velvet sewn on to the See also:collar of the full See also:dress See also:tunic of the See also:officers of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, and styled the " flash," are said to be a relic of the ribbon which tied the queue. The most See also:familiar use of this fashion of wearing the hair is the pigtail of the Manchus, which was imposed on all See also:Chinese men as a See also:symbol of See also:loyalty and obedience at the See also:conquest of See also:China (see CHINA: Social Life). A particular meaning of the word is for the See also:line of persons formed in See also:order awaiting their turn for See also:admission to a See also:theatre or other See also:place. This appears also in See also:French, from which it is borrowed. In the See also:form " cue " (Fr. queue) the word is used of the tapering, striking See also:implement in the See also:game of See also:billiards (q.v.). It is often stated that the theatricaluse of " cue " for the concluding words of an actor's See also:dialogue or speech which marks the beginning of another actor's See also:part is merely an See also:adaptation of the meaning " tail." The New English See also:Dictionary points out that there is no trace of this use in French. In 16th and 17th century plays the endings of parts are marked Q. or qu-, which has been taken to represent Lat. quando, when.

End of Article: QUEUE

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QUEVEDO Y VILLEGAS, FRANCISCO GOMEZ DE (158o-1645)