Meaning

Alternative letter-case form of Q-word (“(linguistics) question word”)..

Definitions by Sense

1. Alternative letter-case form of Q-word (“(linguistics) question word”).
2. The word queer.
3. (humorous, at a workplace) The word quiet, taken as a bad omen that once uttered the workplace will suddenly become exceptionally busy.
4. Any word beginning with q, especially one that is not normally taboo but is considered (often humorously) to be so in the given context.

Example Sentences

[…] was derived through morphological means. This is the situation in languages in which the indefinite marker seems to have been derived from the q-word. In other languages the q-word was morphologically derived from the indefinite word.

The q-word questions ask for information about that element only which is replaced by the question word. The position of the q-word is in situ of the element it replaces, except when replacing a subject.

Last semester, I noticed that students in my Introduction to Queer Studies course (Queer Theory/Queer Lives) were just as interested in the b-word (bisexuality) as the q-word (queer). They perked up when I made references to the history of bisexual movements, and by the end of the semester they began to draw interesting connections between "bi" and "queer."

Even among Western doctors and surgeons, there is a widely held superstition about the q'''-word - 'quiet' - which should never be spoken during a hospital shift.

Word Forms

• q-words
• Q-word

Related Words

When Should You Use Q-word?

Use q-word when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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Frequently Asked Questions