A young boy was playing with a ball in the street. He kicked it too hard, and it broke the window of a house and fell inside. A lady came to the window with the ball and shouted at the young boy, so he ran away, but he still wanted his ball back.
A few minutes later he returned and knocked at the door of the house, and when the lady answered it, he said, "My father"s going to come and fix your window very soon."
After a few more minutes a man came to the door with tools in his hand, so the lady let the boy take his ball away.
When the man finished fixing the window, he said to the lady, "That will cost you exactly ten dollars."
"But aren"t you the father of that young boy?" the woman asked, looking surprised.
"No," he answered, equally surprised. "Aren"t you his mother? "
- thing sought, esp. By a medieval knight. —v. (often foll. By about) go about in search of something (esp. Of dogs seeking game). [latin quaero quaesit- seek]
QUEUE
—n. Line or sequence of persons, vehicles, etc. Waiting their turn. —v. (queues, queued, queuing or queueing) (often foll. By up) form or join a queue. [latin cauda tail]
QUICK
one n. Colloq. Drink (usu. Alcoholic) taken quickly.
- —adj. - taking only a short time (quick worker).
- arriving after a short time, prompt.
- with only a short interval (in quick succession).
- lively, intelligent, alert.
- (of a temper) easily roused.
- archaic alive (the quick and the dead). —adv. (also as int.) Quickly. —n. - soft sensitive flesh, esp. Below the nails.
- seat of emotion (cut to the quick). quickly adv. [old english]
QUIET
—adj. - with little or no sound or motion.
- of gentle or peaceful disposition.
- unobtrusive; not showy.
- not overt; disguised.
- undisturbed, uninterrupted; free or far from vigorous action.
- informal (quiet wedding).
- enjoyed in quiet (quiet smoke).
- not anxious or remorseful.
- not busy (it is very quiet at work). 10 peaceful (all quiet on the frontier). —n. - silence; stillness.
- undisturbed state; tranquillity. —v. (often foll. By down) make or become quiet or calm. be quiet (esp. In imper.) Cease talking etc.
QUIFF
n. 1 man's tuft of hair, brushed upward over the forehead.
- curl plastered down on the forehead. [origin unknown]
QUILL
n. - (in full quill-feather) large feather in a wing or tail.
- hollow stem of this.
- (in full quill pen) pen made of a quill.
- (usu. In pl.) Porcupine's spine. [probably low german quiele]
QUILT
—n. Coverlet, esp. Of quilted material. —v. Line a coverlet or garment with padding enclosed between layers of cloth by lines of stitching. quilter n. Quilting n. [latin culcita cushion]
QUIRE
n. 25 (formerly 24) sheets of paper. [latin: related to *quaternary]
QUIRK
n. - peculiar feature, peculiarity.
- trick of fate. quirky adj. (-ier, -iest). [origin unknown]
QUITE
adv. - completely, entirely, wholly.
- to some extent, rather.
- (often foll. By so) said to indicate agreement. quite a (or some) remarkable or outstanding (thing). Quite a few colloq. A fairly large number of. Quite something colloq. Remarkable thing or person. [var. Of *quit]
