Pages

Saturday 19 April 2014

Q is quintessential


Q in the guise of "God" in the episode  "Tapestry"  Star trek of course.

Portrayed by the actor John de Lancie

I love this character best of all the star trek characters and I have been a star trek fan since the original series. Q is quixotic and the quintessential 'wild card' character. He is the ultimate trickster. I admire a writer who can take this kind of character and really expand a story with it. The trickster is often given only a minor showing in most stories so I love that Q is a fan favourite. 



There are a whole lot of words with a Q not followed by a U- important to know in scrabble. I didn't know there where that many.
There are apparently 71 words currently in use, 67 are nouns, and most are considered on loan from other languages (loanwords); the only modern English words that contain Q not followed by U and are not borrowed from another language are qiana(silky nylon fibre), qwerty(most common keyboard layout), tranq(common shortening for tranquiliser so kind of a cheat).  The majority of these are anglicised(translated for English speakers) from Arabic, Chinese, Hebrew and Inuktitut, or other languages which do not use the English alphabet so Q represents a sound not found in English. There are of course many many place names and personal names, mostly originating from Arabic-speaking countries, Albania, or China, that have a Q without a U and as global movement of people and words grows these too will come into common usage.

 Q is a fictional character  in the James Bond  films and film novelisations. Q standing for Quartermaster and a quartermaster is someone who  is either an individual soldier or a unit who specializes in distributing supplies and provisions  to troops. or in naval terms is responsible for the ship's navigation and the maintenance of nautical charts and maps. 

Allan Quatermain
Allan Quatermain is the protagonist of H. Rider Haggard's 1885 novel King Solomon's Mines and its various prequels and sequels. Definitely a precursor to Indiana Jones and the ilk.

Q Magazine a music industry magazine. 

Q analysis software http://www.q-researchsoftware.com/

There are so many Q things to discover. I like Q. I think it is my favourite letter of the alphabet. 

RhyPiBoMo  homework

Writing Prompt: Write a poem with simile and metaphor included.
A simile is an expressed analogy; a metaphor is an implied one.
          The Model Reporter
Her cupid bow lips are red as roses.
From tortured puppies he supposes.
Her hair all coifed like springs of silk.
I bet she bathes in viper’s milk.
Long and slender her smooth legs.
I’ve seen better on wooden pegs.
She floats along as light as a feather.
Her bones stick out like a tiny bird.
She twists and turns as smooth as a cat.
A starving cat if you look at that.
She changes like a chameleon.
Cold as a lizard in borrowed plumes.
A delicate flush on her face, like fire.
Out of a pot and onto a liar.
Walking as smooth as a wave on the ocean.
Floating on sweatshops I have a notion.
She is the face of the height of fashion.
          The height of fashion has sunk so low?
A glittering pageant and she is the star.
          Before she implodes I am sure she’ll go far.
         
  

Now for some quiet time with visitors and eggs. 

See you Monday :)

11 comments:

  1. Q, he was a great foil for Jean-luc :) I really liked how his character progressed over the seasons.
    I used Q from James Bond for my AtoZ post last year :) - I do rather like his current incarnation ;)
    I didn't know there were that many Q words without a U either - interesting that most are loan words.
    Tasha
    Tasha's Thinkings - AtoZ (Vampires)
    FB3X - AtoZ (Erotic Drabbles)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I shall pop over and take a look at your Q right now :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yes, Q does have some interesting words and characters attached.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think I will think up a couple of Q characters for my own stories. :) thanks for roaming in.

      Delete
  4. Q was a difficult one to find a disease for (good thing I only have to do one as I could only find one!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. well queasy is certainly a symptom. :) and luckily yes it is is one in 26 and over now.

      Delete
  5. All this Q is making me Queasy :)-- thank God this one is done and dusted. Still have X and Z. Hate those.

    Damyanti, Co-host A to Z Challenge April 2014, My Latest post

    Twitter: @AprilA2Z
    #atozchallenge

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. chuckle, I am sure we will rise to the challenge. good luck :)

      Delete
  6. Haha, I was struggling with finding words for both of my blogs today; especially with finding a color that starts with q...

    @TarkabarkaHolgy from
    Multicolored Diary - Tales of colors
    MopDog - The crazy thing about Hungarians...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. it is an interesting and challenging letter :) thanks for stopping by

      Delete
  7. Hope you had a nice Easter. Is it silly that Q kind of creeped me out? Some of those looks he gave people were scary.

    Neat poem. Keep up the great work.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to read my chatter and look at my pictures. I hope you found something to brighten your day. <3