Waiting in line for processing or attention, typically in an ordered sequence.
From French 'queue' meaning 'tail,' originally referring to a line of people waiting. The phrase expanded from physical waiting lines to abstract sequences in computing, customer service, and task management during the 20th century.
This phrase transforms waiting from a passive state into an organized system with implied fairness - first come, first served. It's fascinating how we've borrowed the image of people standing in line to describe everything from computer processes to bureaucratic procedures, making abstract waiting feel more tangible and fair.
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