Today's Apocalypse Sign: Oh No Not The Q Word!

To date the toughest word is the Q. Especially since it is required to be followed by a U. This is one of those "word rules" that is not very often broken and when it is, it gives one pause as to just the correct pronounciation. Out of all the words that begin with the letter Q there are only 34 that DO NOT obey the "followed by a U" rule. They are unpronuncible and stupid words. Most are variations on a base word. I mean "qwerty"??? It's just 6 letters in a row on a keyboard for chrissakes! It is not a word.

For example: qabalah and qabalahs, qadi and qadis, ganat and ganats...you get the idea. I challenge you to use any of them in a real sentence. So there are really only like 20 Q words not followed by a U. It is an impossible point of the alphabet where someone thought that would play a joke on all the other letters and words and make Q, well ...queerly weird.

Anyway, today's Q word for me is that old 70's stand by party favor...Quaalude! This word is fun to say. Fun to spell (anything with a double aa in it is okay with me, like aardvark and aardwolf). And as the main attraction...fun to party with!

The 70's were a time of not much money and certainly not much money for drinking. During that time the handy quaalude became the bridge between a couple beers and night of "feeling fine". Benefits: didn't need to drink a lot to get where you were going (saved money and peeing a lot), the ladies always loved them, and they were cheap!

Manufactured by the drug giants Rorer and Lemmon, the pills (methaqualone) came stamped with the popular 714. This lead to quaaludes being called "Lemmons" or "714's" among the youth of the day. Originally manufactured in 1951, its use peaked in the late sixtys as a treatment for insomnia, a sedative and a muscle relaxant, it became one of the hypnotic drugs of choice on the party scene. Not to mention the fact that it was very inhibition reducing, so it was hard to go to a party in the the 70's and not be able to find a 'lude or two for the night.

Good times...what I remember of them. One of my favorite bands from that era was The Tubes. Lead Singer Fee Waybill named himself Quay Lude. Here is a little ditty I listen to til this day. Enjoy

What Do You Want From Life

Here ends my Quixoctic post for the day.

(Note: I prefer the etymological mis-pronunciation "kee-hoe-tic.")



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