Scrabble Tip: English Words With A Q Not Followed By U

Some things make perfect pairs.

Macaroni and cheese. Rocky and Bullwinkle. Hall and Oates.

The same can be said for two letters of the English alphabet: Q and U. Anyone who's taken a spelling class probably remembers their teacher telling them that in English, the Q must always be followed by a U.

Well, it turns out that's not exactly true. In reality, there are dozens of words in English that have a Q that isn't followed by a U. And no one knows this better than Scrabble players.

Many of those words are borrowed from other languages. Arabic and Hebrew are two especially common sources, as in English the Q is often used to represent the more guttural "K" sound that appears in those languages. We can thank those languages for giving us words like "burqa," a full-body garment worn by some Muslim women, and "sheqel," the currency of Israel.

But Q-without-U words come all from all over the globe, from Mandarin to Inuit to Zulu. A couple of them are even "homegrown" English words with a modern twist. They're all in the English dictionary, and therefore allowed in Scrabble.

Here's a sample of the English words in which the Q stands alone.

Burqa

Thomson Reuters

Language of origin: Arabic

A burqa is a long, loose garment that covers the face and body and is worn by some Muslim women.

Mbaqanga

Amazon

Language of origin: Zulu

Mbaqanga is a style of music from South Africa that was popular in the 1960s. It combines elements of traditional music with jazz and big band.

Niqab

Thomson Reuters

Language of origin: Arabic

A niqab is a veil worn by some Muslim women that covers the hair and the face except for the eyes.

Qabbala

David Silberman/Getty Images

Language of origin: Hebrew

Qabbala is a body of ancient, mystical Jewish teachings. It's often spelled kabbalah, kabbala, cabala, and a few other ways.

Qajaq

Wikimedia Commons

Language of origin: Greenlandic

Qajaq is simply another way to spell kayak, a small boat similar to a canoe. Qajaq is a more authentic representation of the original word, according to a former editor of the Canadian Oxford Dictionary.

Qat

AP/Sayyid Azim

Language of origin: Arabic

Qat, or khat, is a flowering plant that grows in the Middle East and Africa. Qat leaves are chewed as a stimulating drug similar in effect to a strong cup of coffee, and consumption of it is illegal in some countries.

Qi

Amazon

Language of origin: Mandarin

In Qi, pronounced "chee," is defined as "the circulating life force whose existence and properties are the basis of much Chinese philosophy and medicine."

Qintar

Wikimedia Commons

Language of origin: Albanian

A qintar is a monetary unit of Albania. It used to be a subdivision of the Albanian lek, similar to a cents in the United States, but it is no longer circulated.

Qiviut

US Fish and Wildlife Service/Getty Images

Language of origin: Inuit

Qiviut is the wool of the undercoat of the musk ox, and is commonly used to make sweaters and scarves.

Qwerty

Shutterstock/Paolo De Gasperis

Language of origin: N/A

Qwerty refers to the standard layout for computer keyboards used in English-speaking countries. It's not hard to see how the keyboard got its name — it's taken from the first six letters on the top row of the keyboard. Odds are you're probably staring at a qwerty keyboard right now.

Sheqel

Uriel Sinai/Getty Images

Language of origin: Hebrew

A sheqel or shekel is the basic monetary unit of Israel. It came into English thanks to the Hebrew Bible, and originally referred to a unit of weight.

Suq

AP Photo/Abdeljalil Bounhar

Language of origin: Arabic

A suq or souk is a bazaar, or a marketplace found throughout the Middle East and North Africa.

Tranq

Siegfried Modola/Reuters

Language of origin: English

A tranq is an informal word for tranquilizer, a drug used to reduce anxiety and tension. Also spelled trank, it's been used in English since at least 1967, according to Merriam-Webster.

Umiaq

University of Saskatchewan

Language of origin: Inuit

An umiaq or umiak is an open boat made of a wooden frame and covered with hide. It's used mainly by indigenous people in the Arctic, including Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and Siberia.