quirkyalone
(KWUR.kee.uh.lohn) n. A person who enjoys being
single and so
prefers to
wait for the right person to come along rather than
dating indiscriminately.
1
This term was coined by Sasha Cagen, editor and publisher of the independent magazine To-Do List. Cagen wrote an article in the first issue of that publication entitled "The Quirkyalones" in which she describes the evolution of the word (she was waiting for a subway in Brooklyn after a kissless New Year's Eve and it popped into her head), lists a few of the qualities of people with this personality type (sociable, but preferring solitude; romantic; independent), and quotes Rainer Maria Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet as part of the quirkyalone manifesto.
The article was reprinted in the Utne Reader in September 2000 and the term memed its way through the media, showing up in the Chicago Tribune, the San Francisco Chronicle, the the San Francisco Examiner, and FOXNews Online2.
The todolistmagazine.com Web site features the original article as well as other quirkyalone-related content, including a test to determine one's quirkyaloneness.
To-Do List sponsored the first International Quirkyalone Day on February 14, 2003.
1Wordspy entry: http://www.wordspy.com/words/quirkyalone.asp
2"The Quirkyalone Nation" in To-Do List No. 2
Original article: http://www.todolistmagazine.com/quirkylikeus.html