Queer as folk

What does this phrase mean?

It's normally seen in the phrase 'There's nowt as queer as folk' (to be said in a good northern English accent), which means "there's nothing as strange as some people", ie, whoever you were talking about just before is very strange.

A good answer -- thank you, Barney. But how about "nowt." This is a contraction of "nothing"? And how does it sound? "Note"?

Sound more like 'nout'

Is "nowt" strictly Yorkshire, or more generally the North? With a spate of Sheffield-centered movies popular in the U. S., (Full Monty, Brassed Off, et al,) I've heard it often, but don't know the borders of use.