Minding Your Qs

These words are taken from a variety of sources: the Merriam Webster 11th Edition, an online Dictionary of Difficult Words and the Unabridged. I have decided that it is valuable just to learn all the words, even if you are only preparing for a Bee using one of the dictionaries. Some of the "q's" you should know are: qiyas, quagga, quassia, quaternary, queest, quenouille, quercitron, quinsy, quintal, quintan, quintant, quintillian, quintroon, quipu, quisutsch, quoddy, quokka. There are other good words beginning with "q," but I assume that you already know the following: quesadilla, quoll, quoin, quoit, quincunx, quetzal, quinoa, quadrumenous, quenelle, quiddity, quidnunc, quodlibet, quattrocento and quadrumenal. In any case, if you know these 31 words you will probably be able to hit out of the park almost any word thrown at you beginning with "q." And, if you take the time to study the words, you will become rich indeed. About 25-30 additional good "q" word are found here and here and here.

A Rapid Tour of "Qs"

The only word on my list not beginning with the traditional "qu" is qiyas, which should signal you that it is not originally an English word. Indeed, it is Arabic, and it is an important term in Sunni jurisprudence. Qiyas, the process of analogical reasoning, is one of the means of Quranic interpretation. The others the Sunnah (example of the prophet) and the ijma, or consensus of the community. Some also would add ijtihad. Here is an article on qiyas. As Islamic thinking and reasoning become more understood in the West (that is, as Universities begin to fund positions in Islamic studies), we will see all kinds of new words coming into English. I long for that day. But, for now, it is easy. Just learn qiyas, and you don't have to worry about istihsan, istislah, tamthil or aqi. Words open worlds, but they also show us how limited our dictionaries are....

A quagga (mispelled by particpants in a number of spelling bees I have attended) is a South African equine quadruped related to the ass and zebra but less fully striped dthan the zebra. Here is a picture. In fact, that picture site tells us that the quagga, also known as Burchell's zebra (who was Burchell?) was hunted to extinction during the second half of the 19th century, but that 23 stuffed quaggas "exist" in museums around the world. Just as there are 53 14,000+ foot peaks in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, and some have memorized the list; and just as there are 19 Native American pueblo villages in New Mexico, and some have memorized the list; and just as there are four parts of a ruminant's stomach, and some have memorized this; so I bet there are probably a few people (fewer than 10) in the world who have memorized the locations of these 23 "stuffed" quaggas. The "Quagga Project," begun in 1987, is an attempt to "produce" quagga in our day through selective breeding. I bet you never heard of this. Well, sooner or later we will have "rebred quaggas," with the same exterior appearance as the extinct quaggas, roaming the countryside.

You see what I have done here? I have not only introduced two words, but I have, in fact, opened up two possible dissertation topics..or more. Let's continue with this auspicious activity.

More "Qs"

Something that is quaternary is simply something fourth in a series. You have primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary. It can also describe a period of the earth's geological history--the most recent of the geological periods. More specifically, the Quaternary Period runs from about 2 million years ago until today. It is broken up into two epochs: the Pleistocene (2,000,000 years to 10,000 years ago) and the Holocene (10,000 years ago until the present).

Quassia (KWA shah) is a drug from the heartwood and bark of various tropical trees of the ailanthus family--used especially as a bitter tonic and remedy for roundworm in children. The OED has it originating from the Quassia amara of Surinam or perhaps the bitter ash of Jamaica and bitter damson of the West Indies and South America. The bitter tasting substance, quassin, derived from it is considered to be the bitterest tasting object in nature. I can't confirm that personally.

The queest (KWEEST) is the common European ringdove, Columba palumbus, also known as the cushat. Here is a description of it:

"Is the largest of all the pigeon tribe, and measures about seventeen inches in length. The bill is pale red; the nostrils are covered with a mealy red fleshy membrane; eyes pale yellow; the upper parts of the body bluish ash, deepest on the upper part of the bak, the lower part of which, the rump and fore part of the neck and the head, are pale ash grey.."

Well, maybe you just want to see a picture. Here it is. I bet that tons of people know it as the ringdove, while few have heard the word queest--all the more reason for spelling bees to use it!

Finishing Up

Let's rapidly conclude with a word on quenouille, quercitron and quinsy. The first might never be used because it appears most frequently as a double word, with the word "training." Quenouille (ke NUIY; French word for "distaff") training is a method of training trees or shrubs in the shape of a cone or distaff by tying down the branches and pruning. While it is usually used in connection with the shaping of trees, I think it might also have a (humorous?) application in the training of people for a job. We "shape" them so they will be "sharp" on the job. A different kind of quenouille training.

The quercitron is the black or dyer's oak of North America (Quercus tinctoria). It is derived from two Latin words, quercus, meaning "oak," and citrus, a tree of the lemon kind. It rises about 70-100 feet and is common in the eastern half of the US and southern Canada. The word is also used to describe its bark which, when peeled and milled, yields quercitrin, a yellow dye, used ifor tanning and occasionlly for medicine. It was invented by Dr. Edward Bancroft who, in 1785, was given special privileges by Parliament with respect to the importation and use of it. Here again we have a very common object (the black oak) but with a fairly complex name. Got to learn both of them.

Let's conclude today's essay with quinsy, which is a term related to cynanche (from the Greek kynanche, which literally means "dog-collar," and more specifically means a name for diseases of the throat characterized by inflammation, swelling and difficulty of breathing), and is an inflammation of the throat or, in more popular parlance, infected tonsillitis. It is pronounced si NANG ki. Perhaps it feels like one has a dog collar on... The quinsyberry, or the black currant (Ribes nigrum) is so called because it is effective in curing disorders of the throat. The technical medical term for quinsy is peritonsillar abscess. This article discusses various symptoms of quinsy, the most dangerous of which is trismus, or the lack of ability to open the jaw. Rather than being derived in some way from the word for "three," trismos is taken from the Greek trigmos, which can mean a rasping or grinding--perhaps the effort made to liberate the jaws.

On that pleasant thought, let's finish the list.

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