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Quanquam or Cancan

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A slang manner of dancing quadrilles permitted in the public gardens of Paris, etc. The word cancan is a corruption of the Latin quamquam, a term applied to the exercises delivered by young theological students before the divinity professors. Hence it came to signify “babble,” “jargon,” anything crude, jejune, etc.

 

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

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Quadriloge
Quadrivium
Quadroon
Quadruple Alliance of 1674
Quæstio Vexata
Quail
Quaint
Quaker
Qualm
Quandary
Quanquam or Cancan
Quarantine
Quarll (Philip)
Quarrel
Quarrel
Quarrel with your Bread and Butter (To)
Quarry (A)
Quarry
Quart dHeure (Mauvais)
Quarter
Quarter-days in England and Ireland: