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You'll see this word pop up from time to time in the language of Shakespeare and his contemporaries. A quean is a disreputable, upstart, boisterous, impudent woman. The term is also synonymous with "prostitute."
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| Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time by Bronzino, c. 1546 Source |
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| From Holbein's Danse Macabre, "The Nun" Source |
9 comments:
You learn something new every day!
I have a book of old rude and obnoxious English. I bet this word is in there. =)
Don't forget she's a Big Bag of Trouble. :P
I sense a punk song waiting to be written, L.G.
@Joanne: I hope so!
@Crystal: I bet it is. That book would be an awesome basis for the A-Z blogfest.
So to be queanly is not necessarily a royal attribute. Just change one letter and the queen becomes obscene. Interesting.
Having not read any Shakespeare, I've missed this until now! :)
I learned another new word today! I'm enjoying all the Q posts!
A new Q word. I am certain if I would have seen this I would have just thought it a typo or something. Thanks for the info.
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