Queuetopian.
/kjuːˈtəʊpɪə/, U.S. /kjuˈtoʊpiə/ Chiefly British (derogatory).
Originally: Great Britain under Labour or Socialist rule, supposedly characterized by universal queueing. Later in extended use: any place in which there are frequent queues.Coined by Winston Churchill in a speech given on 28 January 1950, after his adoption as Conservative candidate for the Woodford, Essex, constituency.
ΚΠ
1950 W. Churchill in Mansfield (Ohio) News-Jrnl. 29 Jan. 3/2 The socialist dream is no longer of Utopia, but Queuetopia.
1950 Manch. Guardian Weekly 2 Mar. 9/1 (heading) ‘Queuetopia’. Few of our national disorders have made better campaign material than..the continual queues, the swelling bureaucracy,..and the general mechanisation of the British Way of Life.
1975 S. Potter Changing Eng. 82 London..has far too many queuetopias at its bus stops and supermarket checkouts.
2005 Irish Independent (Nexis) 16 Apr. Taylor concluded, ‘queueing becomes a positive pleasure.’ Having endured the ‘queuetopia’ that is the Irish health service, the callers to Liveline..would doubtlessly disagree.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1950