Qi

My grandparents seem to know every two letter word in the English language thanks to their addiction to playing games like Upwords. When playing Quiddler with them once, my grandmother used the word "qi" which of course we all confidently challenged, sure that this was not a word. So we looked it up and sure enough it wasn't in the dictionary. "Well, it's in the scrabble dictionary!" So we asked her what it meant.  Now, not to make my grandma seem unintelligent, because not only is this not true but she usually knows the meanings of every word she plays. In this case unfortunately, she did not remember what qi meant.  I remember thinking that I should look it up and find out...

...a few years later, I'm playing Words with Friends on my phone and often play "qi" as a word when I get the letter Q with no U. It's a very useful word to play. But I realized that I still don't know what it means. So I looked it up. The word is not in any of the three dictionaries we have at home (merriam webster, oxford, or american). According to dictionary.com, it's a noun meaning Ch'i. That word is also not in any of the three dictionaries we own. But again, according to dictionary.com it means: one of two dynasties that ruled in China a.d. 479–502 and, as the Northern Ch'i, a.d. 550–77. In other words, it's another term for a proper noun, so how is this word allowed in scrabble?  I can't believe after all this time that it has such a boring definition and is like a slang term for an illegal word.  I am so disappointed.


What I learned: I learned what the word qi means.