P.D.Q.

or PDQ

abbreviation for

, Informal.

1. immediately; at once:

   You'd better get started P.D.Q.

pdq

abbreviation for

1. pretty damn quick

Word History and Origins

Origin of P.D.Q.¹

1870–75; p(retty) d(amn) q(uick)

Example Sentences

For more than half a century, in works like the “Unbegun” Symphony and “Pervertimento for Bagpipes, Bicycle and Balloons,” Peter Schickele’s creation, the fictional composer P.D.Q.

From New York Times

Peter Schickele, an American composer whose career as a writer of serious concert music was often eclipsed by that of his antic alter ego, the thoroughly debauched, terrifyingly prolific and mercifully fictional P.D.Q.

From New York Times

For more than a half century, through live performances seemingly born of the marriage of Mozart, the Marx Brothers and Rube Goldberg; prizewinning recordings; and even a book-length biography, P.D.Q.

From New York Times

When it comes to provocatively suggestive titles, composers’ intentions are seldom as successfully realized as with, say, Scriabin’s “Poem of Ecstasy” or P.D.Q.

From Los Angeles Times

The satire — some Monty Python, a little “Saturday Night Live,” a whiff of Borat, a welcome boatload of P.D.Q.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• directly
• forthwith
• instantly
• promptly
• rapidly
• shortly
• soon
• urgently