quirky
strangely interesting
TRANSLATION
quirky = quirky = eigen, eigenartig, sonderbar, verschroben, spitzfindig, schnörkelig, schrullig (LEO) --- GOOGLE INDEX quirky: approximately 45,000,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
The beloved Mini has turned 50. Launched by the British Motor Corp. in 1959, this QUIRKY little car has gone through several owners and various iterations from the early Austin Seven and Morris Mini-Minor to vans, station wagons, and convertibles.
BusinessWeek magazine
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I wanted to be that QUIRKY girl who writes funny songs that still have meaning.
pop singer Katy Perry
BusinessWeek magazine
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I wanted to be that QUIRKY girl who writes funny songs that still have meaning.
pop singer Katy Perry
Did you
know?
adjective
- unusual in an attractive and interesting way
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
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The origin of the term "quirky" is unknown and may be connected to the German "quer" (crossways, slanting or at an angle and in a figurative sense "against the norm"), although the earliest English usage seems to contradict this theory. The sense of "strange or peculiar" developed in the 17th century.
Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, once wrote that "every man had his own quirks and twists." What she failed to mention is that some of history's geniuses seem to be a bit more quirky than your average Joe.
Friends of aviation pioneer Howard Hughes reported that he was obsessed with the size of peas, one of his favorite foods, and used a special fork to sort them by size. He also insisted on using tissues to pick up objects, so that he could insulate himself from germs. He would also notice dust, stains or other imperfections on people's clothes and demand that they take care of it.
Serbian physicist Nikola Tesla, inventor of the AC generator, had a germ phobia like Howard Hughes. At dinner parties, he often calculated the cubic contents of his plate. He believed beings from outer space had contacted him in Colorado and was deathly afraid of women with earrings.
Isaac Newton, who discovered the three laws of motion, once stuck a long needle into his eye socket and rubbed it around to see what would happen (miraculously, nothing did). The experiment was designed to test one of his theories about how the eye and brain perceive the colour spectrum.
Albert Einstein had his quirky moments as well. Legend has it that he picked up discarded cigarettes butts from the street in order to avoid his doctor's ban on buying tobacco for his pipe. He also loved sailing - on windless days - because he enjoyed the challenge.
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SYNONYMS
bizarre, eccentric, flaky, kinky, off-the-wall, peculiar, queer, strange, unconventional
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SMUGGLE OWAD into a conversation today
Say something like:
"Our programmer is a bit quirky, but if you have a computer problem he's the one you should call."
- unusual in an attractive and interesting way
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
---
The origin of the term "quirky" is unknown and may be connected to the German "quer" (crossways, slanting or at an angle and in a figurative sense "against the norm"), although the earliest English usage seems to contradict this theory. The sense of "strange or peculiar" developed in the 17th century.
Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, once wrote that "every man had his own quirks and twists." What she failed to mention is that some of history's geniuses seem to be a bit more quirky than your average Joe.
Friends of aviation pioneer Howard Hughes reported that he was obsessed with the size of peas, one of his favorite foods, and used a special fork to sort them by size. He also insisted on using tissues to pick up objects, so that he could insulate himself from germs. He would also notice dust, stains or other imperfections on people's clothes and demand that they take care of it.
Serbian physicist Nikola Tesla, inventor of the AC generator, had a germ phobia like Howard Hughes. At dinner parties, he often calculated the cubic contents of his plate. He believed beings from outer space had contacted him in Colorado and was deathly afraid of women with earrings.
Isaac Newton, who discovered the three laws of motion, once stuck a long needle into his eye socket and rubbed it around to see what would happen (miraculously, nothing did). The experiment was designed to test one of his theories about how the eye and brain perceive the colour spectrum.
Albert Einstein had his quirky moments as well. Legend has it that he picked up discarded cigarettes butts from the street in order to avoid his doctor's ban on buying tobacco for his pipe. He also loved sailing - on windless days - because he enjoyed the challenge.
---
SYNONYMS
bizarre, eccentric, flaky, kinky, off-the-wall, peculiar, queer, strange, unconventional
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into a conversation today
Say something like:
"Our programmer is a bit quirky, but if you have a computer problem he's the one you should call."
