Sentence:  Of all the queer collections of humans outside of a crazy asylum, it seemed to me this sanitarium was the cup winner. […] When you're well enough off so's you don't have to fret about anything but your heft or your diseases you <WSD>begin</WSD> to get queer, I suppose. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  To start, to initiate or take the first step into something.