I found an error in the dictionary and not just one dictionary, every dictionary.
Dictionary.com
Collins Dictionary
The Cambridge Dictionary and so on.
Everyone is giving the wrong pronunciation of this simple and common word.
Americans have changed their habit and we’re going to explore this and use it
as an excuse to learn 7 interesting vocabulary words that starts with Qu.
So you stay there, let’s do this!
Qu. Most common pronunciation is this:
[kw]
Kw consonant cluster
Quick
Quilt
Quiz
[kw]
Wait, I can’t mention quilt without showing you this. My great grandma.
That’s my mom’s mom’s mom made it over a hundred years ago. Isn’t it wonderful?
And “quarter” used to be pronounced this way too but not anymore in the US. Why?
Why did Americans drop the W sound? We don’t say kw, quarter.
We say “Quarter”. [k]. Or just like this word “Core”.
Quarter
Quarterly
I don’t know how or why this habit shifted over time but 99 percent of the time, we say quarter
in American English. Quarter. Listen.
So we have the K consonant not a KW cluster at the beginning.
Then we have a flap T. This follows the rule a T is a flap T if it comes after an R before a vowel.
[flap]
Quar, [də, də, də], Quarter. A flap of the tongue.
Quarter
Quarter, quarter, quarter. Let me go back and give you the full sentence for those examples.
But all these dictionaries have the Kw pronunciation as the only pronunciation.
Kudos to Meriam-Webster who put the most common pronunciation as an option.
Kudos means good job, congratulations.
You’re going to learn new vocabulary today. Kudos to you for dedicating yourself to your studies.
Most Qu words in American English do start with a Kw
cluster, quarter is an exception. We also have this word with just the K sound.
[ki], also you can say [kei] and some people do pronounce this
[kwei] but [ki] is the most common pronunciation. Do you know the word “quay”?
It’s a platform along the water for loading or unloading ships. When I was
researching this video, I kind of went down a rabbit hole of words that begin with Qu.
Go down a rabbit hole. This is an idiom
and it means to get sucked into something that takes a lot of time
more than expected as you learn one thing that leads to another and you just keep going with it.
In this case, I stated looking for Qu pronunciations
and I found all these great vocabulary words, I just kept going with it.
So now we’ll go over 7 advanced vocabulary words that begin with “Qu”.
First, “Quasi”.
This has a couple of different pronunciations all with that Kw cluster.
In American English, [‘kwa zaɪ] and [‘kwa zi] are the two most common pronunciations.
It means something that is similar to something. Kind of like something but not something all the
way. Sort of confusing, this will be more clear as we look at some examples. Let’s go to Youglish.
Quasi-religious.
Not fully religious but a structure or setup that’s like a religion.
A quasi-grain. So it’s not categorized
fully as a grain but has similar properties. It’s kind of like a grain.
Quasi-real-time. Not exactly in real-time, not at the exact same time but close to it. Similar,
almost real-time, quasi-real-time.
You have to be quasi-masochistic. A little masochistic to be a writer. Masochistic means
you kind of like doing things that are painful, tedious, or generally unpleasant to do.
So being a writer has some very challenging parts to it. Therefore,
you have to be a little masochistic to want to be a writer or to be a writer.
Quasi. Make up a sample sentence now and put it in the comments below.
Quash
Do you know this one? It means to stop something, suppress it, make it go away.
Quash the level of Vitriol.
Stop it, make it go away. We want no
more vitriol. What is vitriol? Another great vocabulary word. It means cruel, harsh criticism.
To quash the revolution. To stop it immediately, make it completely go away.
Quash his dreams. Stop dreaming of being in politics, completely put that desire away,
destroy the dream, quash it.
Quack
You probably know that the literal meaning of this word. It’s the sound we use in American
English for the sound of a duck. But do you know how we use it as an idiom?
It means someone with authority who actually doesn’t know what they are doing,
doesn’t do a good job. We use it most commonly with doctors. A bad doctor
doesn’t know what he’s doing, maybe even giving harmful advice, he’s a quack.
Thought he was a quack. He was talking to his doctor; the doctor gave him some advice
he had never heard of before. He wasn’t sure, he thought, “Maybe this guy is just a quack.”
Who is this quack?
Who is this guy who thinks he’s something that I don’t trust at all.
That quack dentist. Didn’t know what he was talking about, not a good dentist.
Quasi
Quash
Quack
What word is next?
Qualm
This is a feeling of being uneasy, apprehensive, not sure.
We often use it in the phrase, “I have no qualms about that.”
No qualms, that means I’m very sure. I’m 100% sure that this is right.
This word has a couple of different pronunciations and can be pronounced with a dark L or without.
[kwam] or [kwalm]
We annihilate them without a qualm. No uneasiness.
We annihilate them without ever wondering if it’s a problem.
Annihilate means to destroy completely, similar to quash. We destroy these things
completely with no second thoughts, feeling completely sure about it without a qualm.
That’s my only qualm with it. That’s the only thing I
don’t like. The only thing that makes me unsure about recommending it.
The most obvious qualm. Uneasiness with capitalism. The thing he was not comfortable with.
Quip
This is a clever of witty remark or comment. Sometimes you’ll hear
it read as a verb. He quipped instead of he said, if what he said was witty.
Quip. A funny thing he said. If you want a friend, buy a dog. Because in Washington,
in the government, there are no friends.
A quip. A joke, something funny and witty.
She often quips. She often makes this joke, this witty comment.
Next: Quintessential
I love this word, it’s the best example of something, the perfect pure example of something.
The quintessential assignment. When you think of a National Geographic assignment for a photographer,
this is what you would think of. The most pure example of what a National
Geographic assignment would be. Go to base camp at Everest.
Quintessential. That’s so National Geographic.
This man is talking about Abraham Lincoln being the quintessential
American. The best example of what an American is.
The most quintessential experience. What you think of when think of Los Angeles?
I guess for her, she thinks, “Hm, when I think about Los Angeles, I think about driving.
Quasi
Quash
Quack
Qualm
Quip
Quintessential
Quaint
All of these words have the kw pronunciation.
Something that’s quaint is charming, picturesque, maybe a little old-fashioned, pleasing.
Like a painting a sweet farmhouse on a cute little farm, that might be quaint. Here, this picture,
a quaint little church in the fall. You know what this is? This is quintessential New England.
It’s a picture that comes to mind when I think of New England. Such a common,
pure New England experience, quintessential.
But let’s get back to quaint with some examples.
Quaint village atmosphere? That sounds nice.
Quaint. A small coastal community. That means a small town on the coast, quaint.
Kind of quaint now. Here it means old-fashioned. The idea of a phone booth. Everybody has
cellphones now. And most phone booths and public phones have been taken down.
Well that’s our quota for Ku words.
Quota, that means the required amount.
I said I was going to teach 7 new vocabulary words with Qu and I did, so I met my quota.
Thank you so much for joining me here, please like this video and subscribe with notifications
and keep your learning going now with this video, I love being your English teacher.
That’s it and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.