Q is for ...

Qat:
\ˈkät\ noun
a shrub (Catha edulis) of the staff-tree family cultivated in the Middle East and Africa for its leaves and buds that are the source of a habituating stimulant when chewed or used as a tea.

and

Qaid:
\kah-eeth, kahyth\ noun
(in North Africa) a Muslim tribal chief, judge, or senior official; a Berber chieftain; an alcaide.



I love playing Scrabble. Even as a kid with a limited vocabulary, and shit for spelling (which actually, as an adult, has not gotten any better solely due to my reliance on spellcheck), I loved playing Scrabble. In the last few years my love has turned a little more cutthroat as Joan opened my eyes to Scrabble strategy.

Now don't get me wrong, my strategic skills are pretty cheesey and I don't think I could do very well in a Scrabble tournament as my memorization skills are only surpassed in lameness by my spelling skills. Which is a roundabout way of saying I can't remember fancy words and if I can remember them, it doesn't matter because I can't spell them. Nonetheless, in my attempt to expand my strategic skills, I have memorized several words that start with Q and don't require U. Such as qat and qaid. Both of which can be pluralized (pluralized, probably not a real word) with an S but are flagged by spellcheck. Go figure.