Musical Meaning Philosophical Latin Quodlibet Theological Joanna Kwahd Luh Bet

1. A subtle argument, especially on a theological or philosophical issue.

2. A musical medley: a whimsical combination of popular tunes. 

[Whatever. Try to get philosophical nowadays and that may be the response you hear. Someone quibbling over a minor philosophical or theological point 500 years ago might have gotten basically the same reaction, but in Latin. At least it seems that way, since the Latin "quodlibet," meaning "any whatever," was the name given to such academic debates. "Quodlibet" is a form of "quilibet," from "qui," meaning "what," and "libet," meaning "it pleases." We can't say with certainty how "quodlibet" went from disputations to musical conglomerations, but English speakers have been using "quodlibet" for light musical mélanges since the mid-19th century. 

From Latin quodlibetum, from Latin quod (what) + libet (it pleases), meaning "whatever pleases". Earlier the term referred to a mock exercise in discussion. Sense 2 arose from its use in German to refer to a gallimaufry of light-hearted musical compositions.]

"Someone was sending me a signal. If words are unimportant, punctuation is something even more lowly. Why worry about such quodlibets? When was the last time anyone even noticed?" - Charles R. Larson; Its Academic, Or Is It?; Newsweek (New York); Nov 6, 1995.

"The swirling mist of sound [pianist Joanna MacGregor] made of the end of the penultimate quodlibet was almost shocking." - Rian Evans; Joanna MacGregor: St George's, Bristol; The Guardian (London, UK); Feb 5, 2005.