Q Seventeenth letter of the 

 English and Latin alpha- 

 bets. It has the sound 

 of hard c (k), and in English is 

 always accompanied by u, the 

 combination being pronounced as 

 Tew. Qu also has the simple k-sound, 

 especially in French and other 

 foreign words, and in the ter- 

 mination -que, as in grotesque, 

 opaque, where e is mute. Quay is 

 pronounced kee. See Alphabet ; 

 Phonetics. 



Q. Pseudonym adopted by Sir 

 A. T. Quiller-Couch (q.v.) as a 

 writer of journalistic causer ies 

 and manv novels. 



Q.A.I.M.N.S. Abbrev. for 

 Queen Alexandra's Imperial Mili- 

 tary Nursing Service (q.v.). 



Q-Boat. Name given in the 

 Great War to a ship used to trap 

 submarines. Also known as mys- 

 tery ships, Q-boats carried con- 

 cealed guns that could be un- 

 masked by dropping a flap or 

 letting down the sides of a deck- 

 house. Their crews were dressed 

 as merchant seamen, and one sec- 

 tion of them was trained to be- 

 have as if panic-stricken when a 

 submarine showed herself. 



In equipping a Q-boat all kinds 

 of camouflaging devices were em- 

 ployed to conceal wireless aerials, 

 look-out posts, etc. The boats 

 masqueraded as merchant vessels, 

 so that in the event of their being 

 sunk the crew would have a plau- 

 sible answer to give the submarine's 

 officer in reply to his inquiries as 

 to their name, destination, etc. 

 For this purpose the name of 

 some vessel on Lloyd's Register 

 was " borrowed.'' It was changed 

 daily, and particulars for the crew 



were posted on a notice-board, 

 humorously called The Daily Liar. 

 Among Q-boats were the Hydera- 

 bad and the Suffolk Coast, and 

 noted commanders were Capt. 

 Gordon Campbell, V.C., and Lieut. 

 Auten, V.C. See Camouflage ; con- 

 sult also Q. Ships and their Story, 

 E. K. Chatterton, 1922. 



Q.E.D. Abbrev. of the Latin 

 phrase, Quod erat demonstrandum, 

 which was to be demonstrated. 



Q.E.F. Abbrev. for the Latin 

 phrase, Quod erat faciendum, which 

 was to be done. 



Q.M.G. Abbrev. for quarter- 

 master-general. 



Q.M.S. Abbrev. for quarter- 

 master-serjeant. 



Quaaltagh. New Year's Day 

 first footing (q.v.) in the Isle of 

 Man. Parties of young men went 

 from house to house uttering in 

 jingle form good wishes for all the 

 inhabitants. The party was then 

 invited in and given refreshments, 

 the first to enter being a dark man, 

 for the ensuring of good luck to 

 the household. 



Quack. Term used generally 

 for one who falsely professes 

 knowledge 

 especially 

 medical know- 

 1 e d g e a n d 

 more strictly 

 for one who 

 disingenuous- 

 ly puffs worth- 

 less remedies. 

 The word is 

 an imitation 

 of the noise 

 made by a 

 duck, and al- 

 ludes to the 



Quadrant formerly 

 used in navigation 



Bycou 



chatter with which a quack vaunts 

 his skill. It was formerly used for 

 medical impostors only, but is now 

 applied to any charlatan (q.v.). 

 The original form of the word 

 was " quacksalver," i.e. one who 

 " quacks " or gabbles in praise of his 

 " salves," ointments, or remedies. 



Quadragesima (Lat. quadrage- 

 simus, fortieth). Latin name for 

 Lent, or for the 40 days' fast before 

 Easter. It denotes the first Sunday 

 in Lent. In the English Prayer 

 Book the word is only used in the 

 Tables and Rules. 



Quadrangle. Rectangular or 

 nearly rectangular court enclosed 

 by buildings. The quadrangle was 

 a conventional feature of monastic 

 architecture, the cloisters being a 

 special feature, and was adopted 

 for colleges and large houses ; for 

 the latter notably in the Tudor 

 Period, as at Hampton Court and 

 Compton Wynyates. At the uni- 

 versities the abbrev. " quad " is 

 applied to the courtyards of col- 

 leges even when these are not com- 

 pletely enclosed. Tom Quad at 

 Christ Church, Oxford, is one of the 

 most famous. In modern garden 

 cities (q.v. ) houses are frequently 

 grouped round a quadrangle. See 

 Corpus Christi College ; Hailey- 

 bury ; Jesus College, Oxford. 



Quadrant. Instrument for- 

 merly used by navigators for fixing 

 the position of a vessel at sea by 

 taking angles. It has been super- 

 seded by the sextant. See Navi- 

 gation ; Sextant. 



The quadrant electrometer is an 

 instrument for measuring electri- 

 city. The best-known type is that 

 invented by Lord Kelvin. See 

 Electrometer. 



