Words in Context

Funny thing, language is. One thing I have noticed- In American English, people wait in a "line." However, most other English speakers (from my experience listening to New Zealand, British and Australian speakers) say people wait in a "queue." However, Americans will sometimes use the word “queue." But (here is the interesting part) only in reference to a line of intangibles, and then it is used consistently. For example when speaking of electronic documents sent to a printer, they are always in “the print queue." But I have never heard an American use the word queue in reference to waiting people or objects. The earliest references to “queue” date back to the 15th century while the word “line” seems to go back to the 14th century. But how and why this “split” in use occurred, I have not discovered. (Thanks for info go to the Online Etymology Dictionary).