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Dec 1, 2025
This week’s themeWords for people This week’s words 
The Son of Man, 1964
Art: René Magritte Previous week’s theme Nouning the verb, verbing the noun 
A.Word.A.Day
with Anu GargBirdwatchers have their sparrows and buntings. Plant lovers their sedums and ferns. Why should people-watchers settle for plain old folks, dudes, and that guy over there? Whether you study the human animal in its natural habitats (coffee shops, checkout lines, Zoom meetings) or simply enjoy observing their colorful plumage and confusing mating calls, precision is key. You need the right taxonomy to identify everyone from the faceless stranger to the officious bureaucrat. Consider this week’s A.Word.A.Day as your field guide to H. sapiens in all their lexical variety. quidam
PRONUNCIATION:
(KWEE-dam, KWID-uhm)
MEANING:
noun 1. An unknown person. 2. An unimportant person. ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin quidam (someone), from quis (who). Earliest documented use: 1579.
NOTES:
Depending on how it’s used, a quidam can be just a stranger, or
a stranger so unremarkable they barely cast a linguistic shadow. Think
of it as the Renaissance version of “some rando”. It’s the verbal
equivalent of a blurred face in a documentary. It’s the perfect word for
when someone asks about that guy over there, and you reply, “Frankly, my
dear, I don’t give a quidam.”
USAGE:
“It’s pretty risky to invite quidams from the audience, nameless
strangers, onto the stage.” Liz Nicholls; Cirque’s Quidam Delivers the Magic; Edmonton Journal (Alberta, Canada); Jun 29, 2004. A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
One trouble with living beyond your deserved number of years is that
there's always some reason to live another year. And I'd like to live
another year so that Nixon won't be President. If he's re-elected I'll have
to live another four years. -Rex Stout, novelist (1 Dec 1886-1975) [Nixon
resigned in 1974.]
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