He heard the bell, but to the door
He dared not go, to-day;
For he was quinked until that bore
At last had walked away.
Quis´ty, a. Useful and reliable but not ornamental.
Quis´ter, n. A person or thing that is beloved for its efficiency, character or worth, rather than for decorative value.
She was not beautiful, but she was business-like; she knew how to spell “its” and “it’s” and “there” and “their” and “they’re.” Her employer did not propose to her or take her out to dinner, but he would not have parted with her for a fortune. She was quisty. (See Splooch.)
The little tin motor-car your sporting friends call a “road-louse” will go as far as his gas-drinking, tire-burning, oil-consuming “Complex” and for one-tenth the money. It isn’t pretty, and it isn’t expensive, but it’s quisty.
Your jimmy-pipe is quisty, and so is that old mangy dressing-gown and that comfortable, worn pair of corsets, and those shabby shoes you hate to throw away. (See Gefoojet.)
Awful were the ugly apartments of the 80’s, but the rooms were large and airy; no such quisty flats nowadays.
Do you use an old-fashioned barber-style razor? Why? Because it’s quisty. That’s why you use that prehistoric stylographic pen, instead of a fountain, with a stiff, scratchy nib. (See Wijjicle.)
Is your faithful, sympathetic wife a quister? Remember, it’s always the best-looking women who go through the divorce courts.
A pretty maid had Mrs. Slade,
And Mr. Slade admired her;
He used to glance at her askance
So much the Mrs. fired her.