P U, also peeyoo or phew, meaning a great big stink, is possibly from French putois (“skunk”) or puer (“to stink”) or a shortened form of putrid.
PV- French poet Paul Verlaine left his wife to begin a love affair with Arthur Rimbaud.
PW – Paul Winchell
Best known as a ventriloquist whose dummies included Jerry Mahoney and Knucklehead Smiff, Winchell also provided the voices of such cartoon characters as Dick Dastardly (Wacky Races), Gargamel (The Smurfs), and Tigger (Winnie-the-Pooh featurettes). Along the way, the former pre-med student managed to obtain over thirty patents, most notably an artificial heart he developed with the assistance of Dr. Henry Heimlich.
Thus giving rise to one of my college English professor/adviser’s favorite lines: “Verlaine was always chasing Rimbauds.”
PX - Post exchange, a store operated by the Army and Air Force Exchange Service on US Army posts
PY – Peter Yarrow
Although known as one-third of the trio Peter, Paul and Mary, Yarrow entered Cornell as a physics major. One of his classmates at the Ivy League school was Thomas Pynchon. Yarrow’s ex-wife, Mary Beth, is a niece of 1968 U.S. Presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy, for whom Peter was campaigning when the future couple met.
PZ
Prince Zeid bin Hussein is a Jordanian who is the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. He has spoken of the need for greater moral courage to ensure equality and human rights for all: "Children need to learn what bigotry and chauvinism are, and the evil they can produce. They need to learn that blind obedience can be exploited by authority figures for wicked ends.”
On 12 September 2016, Mr Hussein expressed concern over the presidential campaign of Donald Trump in the United States, saying that: “If Donald Trump is elected on the basis of what he has said already … I think it is without any doubt that he would be dangerous from an international point of view.”
QA – Queen Ann
Not to be confused with the British monarch Queen Anne, who reigned from 1702 to 1707 as Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland, then as Queen of Great Britain from 1707-14, Ann led the Pamunkey tribe of Virginia between 1706 and 1715. She attempted to protect her people by petitioning colonial authorities to halt the sale of tribal land to outsiders, as well as to prevent liquor from being sold to the Pamunkey.
The queen will go on mating flights shortly after birth. She will attract drones in a “drone congregating area” and mate with approximately 10-20 different drones. A drone who mates with the queen will die during the process because his appendage will be ripped from his body during the process.
Back in the hive, the queen will commence her life as an egg-layer, laying around 2,000 eggs per day.
Source: https://www.perfectbee.com/learn-about-bees/the-life-of-bees/role-queen-bee/
QC – Quezon City
Although Manila is better-known, Quezon City is currently the most populous city in the Philippines, and served as the national capital from 1948 to '76. It is named after Manuel Quezon, who served as president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines from 1935-44, while the islands were under United States administration.
Don Henley wrote a similar pun in his song “Drivin’ With Your Eyes Closed”:
Some guys were born to Rimbaud
Some guys breathe Baudelaire…
(ramble / bottled air)
QD: Now-disfavored drug notation meaning “each day” (from Latin quaque die). Doctors are now encouraged to write “daily” instead.
QE – Queen Emma
Although she received her title by being the wife of Hawaii’s King Kamehameha IV during his 1856-63 reign, Emma did have a chance to become monarch. Following the death of Kamehameha V in 1872, the lack of a named successor led to an election, which was won by Lunalilo. When he died in 1874, Emma ran against David Kalakaua. Although she was the people’s choice, the Legislative Assembly had the real power, and voted 39-6 in favor of Kalakaua.
QF - Quiverfull
Conservative Christian movement which considers children a great blessing; its adherents do not use birth control: Quiverfull - Wikipedia
QG- Hamlet berates his mother, Queen Gertrude, with the famed quote “Frailty, thy name is woman!”
QH = IATA airline designation for Kyrgyzstan Airways, no longer needed by the defunct Air Florida.
QI – Quincy, Indiana
Located in Owen County, Quincy has a post office, but is an unincorporated part of Taylor Township. Its most notable resident was Indiana State University basketball coach Birch Evans Bayh, Senior, father of former U.S. Senator Birch Evans Bayh II and thus grandfather of former U.S. Senator and Indiana Governor Evan Bayh.
QJ – Quincy Jones; American record producer, actor, conductor, arranger, composer, musician, instrumentalist, entertainment company executive, etc. His career spans six decades, and he has won 28 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend Award in 1991.
QK – Quick Kick
In American football, a punt that is attempted on a down earlier than fourth. The aim is to catch the opposing team off guard and thus allow the ball to roll as near as possible to the goal line so that the opponent begins its possession at a disadvantage.
QL stands for “Québec libre,” or “independent Québec,” the rallying cry of Quebec separatists, and used by President Charles de Gaulle in a speach on July 24, 1967, in Montreal; one of the most egotistical gaffes of one of the most egotistical national leaders in the last century.
QM Quarter Mile. In drag racing, the quarter mile will reveal just how good your engine is. 10 seconds is very fast. When jogging, one minutes is fast. Saying he lives his life a quarter mile at a time means he takes life’s situations as they come.
QN = quarter nelson. A wrestling technique that, it appears, is effective against the turtle.
Which would mean more if I knew what the turtle was, I suppose.