Qua: : in the capacity or character of : // discussing the story qua story (reference: qua )

I've considered using this extremely handy, versatile, and terse word for describing something in the essence of it being itself (to use another rare "q" word, its quiddity). There are not many prepositions, and this one often does the trick, its only seeming alternative being, well, "being" or "as".

A couple sentence examples:

To man qua man we readily say good riddance.

Money, qua money, cannot provide happiness.

In the latter example, substituting the word "being" captures the same idea. However, it seems inappropriate in the former example.

I also see this word used chiefly in a self-referential manner (like man qua man) and rarely in a crossover way (as in the phrase "politicians qua humans don't make perfect policies anymore than they lead perfect lives") which would be useful too.

Every time I've attempted to employ this word (especially when referring to two things), it comes off as pretentious and affected. I've been asked why I use the word when it comes up, and unlike other highbrow words which I can contextualize, this one is hard to frame. What are your thoughts? Can I frame this word more intuitively, or in a less grandiloquent way? How have you seen this word employed, if at all?