Volume 7 , Issue 41

Modern World of Quidnunes...

Last week we had a 1920 news article from "Renfrew's Record" concerning The Modern World of Quidnunes. With the help of a reader we found out that Quidnunc is from Latin meaning "What Now." AND... it also means "nosy person" or "busybody."

Also... quidnunc is pronounced like KWID-nuhngk, noun. meaning: One who is curious to know everything that passes; one who knows or pretends to know all that is going on; a gossip; a busybody.

QUIDNUNC was an inquisitive person; a gossip. Dictionaries either don't include this, or tag it as obsolete. It's a fine example of an obscure (and presumably somewhat patronising) scholarly in-joke, formed from the two Latin words quid, 'what', and nunc, 'now'. It was said to describe a person who was forever asking 'What now?' or What's the news?, hence a gossip-monger; it first appeared about 1710. Nathaniel Hawthorne's use of it in The House of the Seven Gables in 1851 is typical: "What a treasure-trove to these venerable quidnuncs, could they have guessed the secret which Hepzibah and Clifford were carrying along with them!".

AND... In 1920, was this NW Oklahoma newspaper referring to this modern, young group as those who were forever asking "What now?" or "What's the news?" [SEE This Link]   |  View or Add Comments (0 Comments)   |   Receive updates ( subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

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