Sayings and Expressions that begin with the letter "Q" from"Queer as a $3 bill" to "Quiz"

A fine quotation is a diamond on the finger of a witty person, but a pebble in the hands of a fool.
Joseph Roux 1886

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QUEER AS A $3 BILL---Phony; of dubious value.---"It was as queer as a $3 bill."---Queer as applied to counterfeit money goes back 250 years. There is no such bill as a $3 bill so any that show up would be self-evidently counterfeit or queer.---John Habberton (1877). Jericho Road. "'Let's give him fifty to send her.' 'Fifty queer?' asked Mr. Lodge. 'No, fifty straight,' said the little man."

QUICK AS A BEE---Very quick.---Heywood (1546). Proverbs. "As quicke as bee, seekes honie every where."

QUICK AS A CAT---Very quick.---Beecher (1855). Writing in his autobiography of a Lambert who "was quick as a cat to see."

QUICK AS A WINK---Very quick.---Brother Jonathan (1825). "Fire away as quick as a wink."

QUICK AS LIGHTNING---Very quick.---Beaumont & Fletcher (1623). Love's Cure. "Swift as lightning he came on upon the other."

QUICK ON THE DRAW---Very quick.---C. Brady ((1903). The Bishop. "He had the reputation of being the quickest man on the draw in the territory."

QUICK STUDY---Someone who learns quickly.---"He is a quick study."---Theatrical saying. Charles Dickens (1838). Nicholas Nickleby. "I've got a part of twelve lengths here, which I must be up in tomorrow night.....I'm a confounded quick study, that's one comfort."

QUIET AS A MOUSE---Very quiet.---"What is he up to he has been quiet as a mouse."---Flecknoe (1656). Diarium. "Was wont to be as still as mouse." Also: QUIET AS A LAMB.

QUIT YOUR BELLYACHING---Quit complaining.---"I'm tired of hearing it, would you please stop your bellyaching."---A person having an actual stomach ache is in pain and the saying reflects what the sound of a complainer has in common with the true sounds of a person with real pain.

QUIZ---To question; inquire.---"I wish she would quit quizzing me about it."---The word came about because of a bet. A man named Daly, manager of the Dublin Theater, made a bet that he would introduce into the English language within twenty four hours a new word that had no meaning. Accordingly, on every wall in Dublin and every other place accessible, Daly had chalked up the four mystic letters Q-U-I-Z. That day all Dublin was inquiring what it meant. "Quiz? Quiz? What does it mean?" Daly won his bet and the word has remained in our language to this day.

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edited by Linda Clark