Today’s quiz: Attitude can mean: a. Weight b. Height c. Temperature d. Posture

A slew of splashy words start with the letter ‘q.’ A quorum represents the number of members required to be present to do business in a legislative body. Quondam indicates erstwhile, as in he was the quondam chairman, i.e. chairman at the time. Quotidian projects daily or diurnal. It can imply a tedious or boring task. A quidnunc caricatures a bothersome person who asks querulous questions. Quintessence encapsulates the pervasive nature of something.

Q.E.D. is an engaging nugget. It’s from Latin and shows us the point has been proven, usually used humorously. If you want to underscore a strong view you’ve just posited, simply add Q.E.D. at the end! It’s vocalized by Gene Lockhart in the 1938 movie version of “A Christmas Carol.”

From the French, ‘on the qui vive’ warns to be on the lookout. The phrase is chanted by the crowd in “The Music Man.”

Qua is a gem I’ve seen more of lately. It can mean acting as, or as such…one could say, the qua store manager…although it wouldn’t usually be used so casually. We write more formally than we speak. The president qua commander-in-chief, would be more like it.

The “New York Times” Book Review section is a rich source of fresh lexemes. Words I’ve seen include grotty, insinuating not very appealing, like a grotty hotel room. A baggy novel has unneeded verbiage. A lazaretto pictures an isolation area for the sick, sometimes on a ship. Grandee portrays a top-dog or grand poobah. Spiky can refer to a cactus. Or high pitched music. It can also point out a touchy person, one who might easily fly off the handle if provoked.

A tang may be a knife blade, a racy taste or a marine fish popular with aquarists.

Mellifluous applies to words or music.

Answer: d. Posture