23 January 2016

quoz

[kwaz)]

noun

– An odd person or thing.

Origin

Of uncertain origin. Perhaps it’s a variant of the word quiz which has a similar meaning. Or maybe the word quiz is a variant of quoz. It’s all very quizzical. Or quozzical. Earliest documented use: 1780.

USAGE:
“That juggling trick of yours is growing older than a floorboard split under the weight of countless eager feet, and rendering you a quoz to the ears.”
Neil Baker; G Day: Please God, Get Me Off the Hook; AuthorHouse; 2010.

“While everything that exists is a potential quoz for somebody, one must embrace the mystery for it to open itself.”
William Least Heat-Moon; Blue Highways: A Journey into America; Little, Brown and Company; 2012.

(Wordsmith.org)

Today’s quote

Jazz is the last refuge of the untalented. Jazz musicians enjoy themselves more than anyone listening to them does.

– Tony Wilson

On this day

23 January 1803 – death of Sir Arthur Guiness, Irish brewer and founder of the Guinness brewery. Born 24 September 1725.

23 January 1989 – death of Salvador Dali, Spanish surrealist painter. Born 11 May 1904.