first-come, first-served

"Priority will be given to people whose skills are in demand, an improvement over the first-come, first-served system now used...".

hi,

i wonder if the expression in bold means that the first person arrived is served before the second one and so on. i also would like to know if "first-come, first-served" is the most popular way to say that in English.

please, also let me know if the sentence below is OK.

"you don't need to set an appointment to see the doctor. we work on a first-come, first-served system.".

thanks.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jctgf

"Priority will be given to people whose skills are in demand, an improvement over the first-come, first-served system now used...".

hi,

i wonder if the expression in bold means that the first person arrived is served before the second one and so on. i also would like to know if "first-come, first-served" is the most popular way to say that in English.

please, also let me know if the sentence below is OK.

"you don't need to set an appointment to see the doctor. we work on a first-come, first-served system.".

thanks.

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You are correct in both your interpretation of the phrase and your sample sentence.

Do you mean that, in the past, hiring practices were based on a first-come, first-served basis?

I don't think that's the idiom to use, then.

I'd suggest, "first-come, first-hired"