Thursday, April 19, 2012

Q is for Quism


~~~~~~~St. Bride's - Bird Resort.~~~~~~~

Marvellous word, isn't it. And of all the words I've selected for the A-Z blog post challenge for the month of April, it is one I've never heard of before.

But I foresee in my future many excuses for using it in response to peculiarities of speech or story offered by another.

“Oh go 'way out of that with your old quisms!”

You're welcome.

quism n EDD ~ 'an odd or witty saying or quip' So. A quaint saying; a remark felt to be foolish or silly.
[c1894] PANL P4/14, pp. 198-9 A quism is a quaint saying or conundrum. C 71-46 If a black cat crossed in
front of you and [you said] you wanted to detour, my grandmother would promptly retort that she was not
having anything to do with your 'old quisms' and continue in the same direction.


And I'm absolutely certain it has nothing to do with this Wiktictionary definition:
Etymology

Contraction of quasi-isomorphism


Today's post brought to you by the letter Q from The Dictionary of Newfoundland English in partnership with the rest of the alphabet beginning here.

14 comments:

  1. It sounds like a cross between quip and witticism....

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  2. I think this is my favourite so far!

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  3. That sounds like a very sensible word as you should never give in to those old quisms. xox

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  4. Hey, Y'all, Now that is just dandy, don'tcha know? I love quisms, because I use 'em a lot. I grew up on quisms. :) I live alone, but I stay as busy as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rockin' chairs.
    Some times I am just busy takin' a nap during the middle of the day. Ha ha. Best regards to you. Thank ye for an interestin' post. Ruby aka Grammy :)

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  5. It's not a word I could find use for. But you gave it a good showing. Blog on!

    http://francene-wordstitcher.blogspot.com

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  6. I love the sound of the word and the meaning too. Don't be surprised if I use it in my posts.

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  7. I like it! It'd be a good name/theme for a blog too!

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  8. Irene:
    Not to mention pointing then out to others when used!
    XO
    WWW

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  9. Grammy:
    Welcome and thanks for your input!
    XO
    WWW

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  10. FS:
    Welcome and you could try and inject it into some conversation surely?
    :)
    XO
    WWW

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  11. Ramana:
    I would love to see what you'd do with it!
    XO
    WWW

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