Reader’s question: He said his mother would be back very soon and, right on cue, she walked in. Could you explain “right on cue”?

My comments:

It means right at the moment he mentioned his mother (coming back soon), the mother appeared, walking in.

“Cue” originally is a theater term, referring to the signal – either a word, a wave of hand, or a flag – for the next actor to speak/act. Literally, hence, "right on cue" means at the exact moment the “cue” sign is raised.

If the actor speaks or makes a move right on cue, then he/she is doing the exact thing the director wants them to do, as required by the script. In other words, they’re doing a good job.

In the above example, though, “right on cue” perfectly matches, in general meaning and spirit of course, the Chinese vernacular:

說(shuō)曹操，曹操到！

However, translate thus at your own peril because one scarcely can imagine one’s mother, anyone’s mother for that matter, sharing anything in common with Cao Cao, the heavy-handed warlord from yesteryear.

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本文僅代表作者本人觀點(diǎn)，與本網(wǎng)立場(chǎng)無(wú)關(guān)。歡迎大家討論學(xué)術(shù)問(wèn)題，尊重他人，禁止人身攻擊和發(fā)布一切違反國(guó)家現(xiàn)行法律法規(guī)的內(nèi)容。

Zhang Xin has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.