NQR
English
Etymology 1
Adjective
NQR (not comparable)
- (informal, often euphemistic) Abbreviation of not quite right, chiefly used to denote a person, object, etc. that is abnormal in some way.
- 1998 May 5, Tharunka, Kensington, page 33, column 1:
- We are not a straight pop band and we are not a straight rock band. We are what I call NQR - Not Quite Right. I guess its pop with rock elements but the rhythms are different, the timing isn't four-four, the guitarist doesn't use any standard tuning.
- 1999, Rebecca Mcclanahan, “Five”, in Word Painting: A Guide to Writing More Descriptively, Cincinnati: Writer's Digest Books:
- In my large extended family, we have a term for any strange, aberrant or overly imaginative ability. We call it the NQR factor ("Not Quite Right") and we assign a quotient to all family members based on symptoms they display, beginning at birth.
- 2001, Christine Durham, Chasing Ideas: The Fun of Freeing Your Child's Imagination, London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, page 42:
- If your children have suggested something that is wrong, soften your criticism or correction of their thoughts by suggesting that it is NQR (Not Quite Right).
- 2002 July 31, rec.sport.golf[1] (Usenet):
- Pupils at my academy often come with low handicaps that they achieve by good short games and know full well that that isn't what golf is all about; they want good ball striking as well as good scores. That's why they come. Unease with swings that are NQR far outweighs some good scoring due to the nature of ball striking and its lure.
Noun
NQR (plural NQRs)
- (informal, often euphemistic) A person or thing that is slightly wrong in some manner, as being damaged, incomplete, strange, imperfect, etc.
- 2009 April 8, rec.sport.golf[2] (Usenet):
- My use of such an acronym, NQEI, came from a friend's experiences in the Phillipines, where she had spent 5 years as a school teacher; she had a way of expressing herself about life there: NQR stood for {"not quite right" to describe all those incidents and occurrences such as the cab ride that ran out of gas halfway to her destination, the auto repair that failed as she drove away, the part purchased for a gadget replacement that didn't fit, the electricity going off at key moments, and all the other predictably NQRs that were routine.
- 2019 April 5, xspalt, “thoughts on “What if social media is causing permanent mental retardation for those who grow up with it?””, in Wordpress[3]:
- When I was in school, there was no autism. no spectrum, no programs against bullying, no participation trophies. What we had were the weird kids. NQR’s ( Not Quite Right ).
- 2025 January 22, Nancy Hoffman, “Not Quite Right: Something is not as it should be”, in Substack[4]:
- When I was stationed in the Philippines in the early 80’s my friends and I were able to travel around Asia on leave. What a great adventure that was. On our journeys we would encounter “knockoffs”. items created to mimic the original. There were jeans, purses, athletic shoes, electronics, and a myriad of other items. What was common to all though was that upon first glance they looked like the original but on closer inspection there were off in some way. We christened this “Not Quite Right”, NQR for short. Since that time I have used the phrase to describe things that are not quite as they should be or are intended to be. Such is the world we live in today. Join me in illuminating, discussing, dissecting all the NQR we encounter going forward.
Etymology 2
Noun
NQR (uncountable)
- (chemistry) Abbreviation of nuclear quadrupole resonance.