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Comment by onnodigcomplex | Hacker News Reader

It's a fun programming/puzzle challenge. I developed a perfect pangram in Dutch about a teachers bike that is very lightweight and fast, but not so strong

Jufs BMX: hypervlot c.q. zwak ding

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"C.Q." is an abbreviation that could mean different things depending on the context. It is not a widely recognized or commonly used abbreviation, and its meaning is not immediately clear. Can you provide some more information or context about it?

It is common in Dutch, short for casu quo (latin).

"A c.q. B" means something like "A or otherwise B" (example translated from Dutch wikipedia page)

https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casu_quo

sorry didn't see anything in english on that page.

it's strange how a language that absorbs everything it comes across didn't bag this, perhaps there something else in english that does the same job?

In amateur radio, especially CW/morse code, CQ means "looking for someone to talk to". It's an abbreviated homonym for "seek you".

If you hear "CQ CQ CQ de WB6NOA" being transmitted, it would mean the person who owns call sign WB6NOA is looking to talk to someone on this frequency.

i did know that (in the back of my brain, and watching Ellie in "Contact") but don't see how it applies here.

Apologies, I meant to respond to another message.

In Dutch, c.q. is an abbreviation of the Latin term casu quo, meaning "or instead, alternatively" (lit. in which case). It doesn't really fit here because it suggests that vlot (quick) and zwak (weak) are interchangeable adjectives -- nor does it match the English usage of the same term, where it is used more like a premise/supposition rather than a conjunction.

Another populair one is: "Lynx c.q. vos prikt bh: dag zwemjuf!"

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