q-word

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q-word^¹

noun q-words · Q-word

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

Q-word^²

noun Q-words · q-word

A question word. Cross-linguistically, a distinctive characteristic of this mood type is the presence of a question word (‘Q-word’) in the clause that queries missing information [...]
Alternative letter-case form of q-word (“any word beginning with q”).

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MLA

"q-word." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/q-word. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

q-word. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/q-word

Chicago

"q-word." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/q-word.

BibTeX

@misc{q_word_2026,
  title = {q-word},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/q-word},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}