How do you pronounce "que" ?

[MyGoofy26]

Alright linguists...

Can someone tell us how to pronounce the name of Disney Cruise Line's private island and port, "Castaway Kay?"

This one drives me nuts. . . I could swear I remember Disney saying "K" instead of "Key" when the cruise line first started.

 

[DebIreland]

I could have sworn in Ireland they pronounced "queue" as "key".

No queue is definitely pronounced 'Q' but Quay is pronounced 'Key' and oddly enough we have a place near where I live called 'The Coal Quay' which is pronounced 'The Coal Kay'. Confused yet? lol

I had no idea the word 'queue' wasn't very common in the U.S. until I read the Unofficial Guide and the author describes what a 'queue' is. I was thinking 'huh? why's he explaining that?' but then I guessed it must not be a popular word there.

 

[bazzanoid]

Castaway Cay is definitely pronounced Key, just to confuse things! Some cast members have yet to be told this mind you.....

Cay comes from a spanish interpretation of Quay and is used almost exclusively to describe a shallow coral reef in the Caribbean.

 

[hogwartsdropout]

I'm British and I can assure you it's said like "Q" or "cue".

 

[fws]

England calling.

Queue is definitely pronounced kyou or kyew over here.

Que is Spanish and pronounced cay without much emphasis on the last sound and cay is pronounced key.

Key is of course pronounced kee, unlike hey which is hay.

Simple!!!!
What on earth made Americans adopt English as the main language?!!!!!

 

[Mortlives]

England calling.

Queue is definitely pronounced kyou or kyew over here.

Que is Spanish and pronounced cay without much emphasis on the last sound and cay is pronounced key.

Key is of course pronounced kee, unlike hey which is hay.

Simple!!!!
What on earth made Americans adopt English as the main language?!!!!!

The same thing that made Anglo-Canadians adopt it. Simplicity.

 

[seashoreCM]

What on earth made Americans adopt English as the main language?!!!!!

Because almost all of the citizens of the unitedstatesofAmerica spoke English when said country came into existence back in 1776.

Now I am not sure how rapidly accents of Bostonians, New Yorkers, Wheelingites, and Atlantans changed from that of Londoners.

 

[wendy1974]

I've always pronounced it as "Kway" ...and I'm going to keep prouncouncing it that way!

 

[kelleigh1]

No need to post since it looks like you've got it right now. Congrats on having a smart kid!

 

[MyGoofy26]

I had no idea the word 'queue' wasn't very common in the U.S. until I read the Unofficial Guide and the author describes what a 'queue' is. I was thinking 'huh? why's he explaining that?' but then I guessed it must not be a popular word there.

I had no idea it wasn't that common in the US! LOL! I use it all the time, and no one's ever looked at me funny so I assume they knew what I meant. Maybe it's a regional thing?

Slightly amusing side-story. . . when I did the college program we somehow got started talking about pet peeves. One of my co-CM's pet peeve was people that say "the queue line". . . she went on this whole rant saying, "don't they realize they're essentially saying the line line? It's either queue or line! Not both!"

 

[welovedis]

Check out my sig. If its a line you are meaning it is pronounced "Q" and is spelt queue.

Where is your sig?

 

[mill4023]

Any long-time computer geek also qualifies (I think) -- It's "Q".

Yep.
Queue - a data structure in which elements are removed in the order they were inserted. Also known as FIFO (First In, First Out). Easily implemented as a linked list.

I had never heard anyone refer to an attraction line as a queue until I started reading these boards. Most of us americans just call it a line.

 

[bgirldeb]

I had no idea the word 'queue' wasn't very common in the U.S. until I read the Unofficial Guide ...

It's always been common to me
I had no idea it was uncommon

Maybe it's like pronouncing salmon with the "L" ...

 

[Squirlz]

Slightly amusing side-story. . . when I did the college program we somehow got started talking about pet peeves. One of my co-CM's pet peeve was people that say "the queue line". . . she went on this whole rant saying, "don't they realize they're essentially saying the line line? It's either queue or line! Not both!"

You mean the queue line for the ATM machine?

 

[Amber74]

I never heard that word before going on this site and reading other books about Disneyworld. It is always a "line" here in Missouri.

 

[Epscot]

I don’t want to hijack the thread, but my question is related to waiting in the queue. Here in the southern United States, most people tend to say that you wait IN line. People from certain other parts of the country tend to say that you wait ON line.

To my way of thinking, if you stand ON something that instructs you where to queue (a single piece of tape, a single painted stripe on the ground, etc) while waiting for your turn to do something, then it’s possible to say that you are waiting ON a line or on line. If, however, you line up between ropes or chains or even just get behind the last person waiting for their turn to do something without any visible method of organization, then you are waiting IN a line or in line.

To complicate this further, even if you are standing on a line while waiting behind others for your turn to do something, you actually become part of the line of people and are technically waiting IN line. I guess I just don’t see why some people say that they are waiting on line when they are waiting in line.

Anybody got any ideas?

 

[dizprincess717]

I always called it "The Line." And then I got the privilege to work at Splash Mountain. Well, I tried calling it "The Line" but my trainer, fellow CMs, coordinators and managers all call it "The Queue." And it's pronouned "Q." Now, why the "-ueue" has to be added after the "Q" is beyond me.

So, the "Queue" is obviously a noun. However, people from England also use it as a verb! Example - "Is this the place to queue up?" I had to do a double take. I loved when they would say that. It sounded cool.

The word "Queue." So interesting. Additional letters that aren't needed or even pronounced, used as a noun and an adjective. Sheesh.

 

[pdarrah]

Actually, Disney Cruise Line isn't at all consistent with "Cay". The island Castaway Cay is usually pronounced "Kay" by the castmemebers. The restaurant on the ship named Parrot Cay is usually pronounced "Key" by the castmembers.

I looked it up once to find out which we "Right" and found that both pronounciations are considered equally valid....

pdarrah

 

[Blondie]

I say "Q" and "in line."

 

[monetnj]

England calling.

Queue is definitely pronounced kyou or kyew over here.

Que is Spanish and pronounced cay without much emphasis on the last sound and cay is pronounced key.

Key is of course pronounced kee, unlike hey which is hay.

Simple!!!!
What on earth made Americans adopt English as the main language?!!!!!

I noticed somebody else in the first page of the this thread also mentioned the spanish word Que is prounounced cay. That is actually the native english speaker accented way of pronouncing it. Native spanish speakers pronounce it as more like "keh" swallowing the hard k sound a bit. In other words, the e sounds more like the e in bed and not the a in stay.