Over the century that has elapsed since the discovery of ferroelectricity, we have built a considerable body of knowledge around electric polarization and its interaction with external stimuli such as voltage, mechanical stress or light. This entire conference is proof of that. However, along the way we have also learnt that, in the right conditions, polar responses may be elicited from non-polar materials. I would like to dedicate my talk to these not-quite-ferroelectric phenomena. I will start, predictably enough, with flexoelectricity, a phenomenon pervasive in all materials and relevant to any physical response to inhomogeneous fields and/or deformations – a situation that includes, but is not limited to, piezoresponse force microscopy. I will then move on to a different form of not-quite-ferroelectricity, namely antiferroelectricity, and its connection with flexoelectricity, photoelectricity, switching dynamics and the origin of its anomalous electrocaloric effect.  Lastly, and depending on time availability, I will outline on-going research on nanomechanics and the ferroelasticity of oxide membranes.