The Quick and the Dead

The Quick and the Dead

The Quick and the Dead is an English phrase and popular title for novels, films and other popular culture entities.

The application of the phrase "the quick and the dead" to the common subject of gunfighting was due to a misunderstanding of its original meaning in the King James Version of the New Testament (published 1611), where the phrase is used in 1 Peter 4:5: "...who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead."

In the English of the era, "quick" meant "living" or "alive," being derived from the Proto-Germanic *"kwikwaz", which in turn was from the Proto-Indo-European base *"gwiwo"- "to live" (from which also came the Latin "vivere" and later the Italian and Spanish "viva"). Its English meaning in later centuries shifted to "fast," "rapid," "moving, or able to move, with speed," and finally came to be used in the title of this and other works of literature.


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  • The Quick and the Dead (disambiguation) — The Quick and the Dead is an idiom that first appeared in 1 Peter 4:5 in the King James translation of the Christian BibleThe Quick and the Dead may also refer to:* The Quick and the Dead (1943 novel) by Ellery Queen * The Quick and the Dead… …   Wikipedia

  • The Quick and the Undead — The quick and the un dead The quick and the un dead was written and directed by Gerald Nott and starred Erin McCarthy, Taglines: if you re not quick, you re dead never go inside plot The movie takes place in the present, but in this universe, a… …   Wikipedia

  • The Quick and the Dead (1995 film) — Infobox Film name = The Quick and the Dead caption = The Quick and the Dead Theatrical poster director = Sam Raimi producer = Joshua Donen Patrick Markey Allen Shapiro writer = Simon Moore starring = Sharon Stone Gene Hackman Russell Crowe… …   Wikipedia

  • The Quick and the Dead (collection) — Infobox Book name = The Quick and the Dead title orig = translator = image caption = Dust jacket illustration by Frank Utpatel for The Quick and the Dead author = Vincent Starrett illustrator = cover artist = Frank Utpatel country = United States …   Wikipedia

  • The Quick and the Dead (1978 film) — Infobox Film name = The Quick and the Dead image size = caption = director = Claude Du Boc producer = Craig Glazer and Ron Hamady writer = narrator = Stacy Keach starring = music = cinematography = editing = distributor = released = 1975 / 1978… …   Wikipedia

  • The Quick and the Wed — Infobox Television episode Caption = A rowdy bachelorette party at Java the Hut. Title = The Quick and the Wed Series = Veronica Mars Season = 2 Episode = 15 Airdate = March 22, 2006 Production = 2T7215 Writer = John Serge Director = Rick… …   Wikipedia

  • Be Quick or Be Dead — Infobox Single Name = Be Quick or Be Dead Artist = Iron Maiden from Album = Fear of the Dark B side = Nodding Donkey Blues Space Station #5 Bayswater Ain t a Bad Place to Be Genre = Heavy metal Released = 13 April 1992 Recorded = 1992 Length =… …   Wikipedia

  • Speaker for the Dead — Not to be confused with Speaker of the Dead. Speaker for the Dead   …   Wikipedia

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  • Quick — Quick, a. [Compar. {Quicker}; superl. {Quickest}.] [As. cwic, cwicu, cwucu, cucu, living; akin to OS. quik, D. kwik, OHG. quec, chec, G. keck bold, lively, Icel. kvikr living, Goth. qius, Lith. q[=y]vas, Russ. zhivoi, L. vivus living, vivere to… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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