queer as folk
- idiom
- Archaic
:
raro
- When it comes to human behavior, it's true that there's nothing queer as folk.
Examples
-
Her ideas are queer as folk!
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Why is he acting so queer as folk today?
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There's nowt so queer as folk, as my grandmother used to say.
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You think you've seen it all, but honestly, queer as folk never ceases to amaze me.
-
There's nowt so queer as folk, as my grandmother used to say.
-
When it comes to human behavior, it's true that there's nothing queer as folk.
-
You think you've seen it all, but honestly, queer as folk never ceases to amaze me.
Synonyms
18
9.1
Strange or unusual in a way you notice
People often behave in strange and unexpected ways
Very strange in a way that people notice
Antonyms
How Strange
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly derivable from the parts: 'queer' = odd/unusual, 'folk' = people, and 'as' signals a comparative/simile, so a learner can infer 'people are strange' or 'very strange.' Although colloquial, the construction follows a common simile/comparative pattern found across languages, making it predictable for a B1 learner who knows the constituent words.
Etymology
Queer as folk comes from an old British saying where queer meant 'strange' and folk meant 'people'. People used the clear image of 'strange people' to say that people often act oddly, so today the phrase means 'people are strange or unpredictable'.