2006-09-16 08:22:55 · 25 answers · asked by Bill L 5 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
It's an old British pub expression, meaning "mind your pints and quarts". It is both an admonition to watch how much you're drinking and not get to drunk and also advice to keep an eye on your tab in case the bartender gets mixed up. (Tabs were traditionally kept track of by writing ps and qs on a blackboard and over the course of an evening with repeated writing and erasing, things could get messy and confusing.)
2006-09-16 16:12:46 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mind your p's and q's
Meaning
"Be on your best behaviour and be careful of your language.
Origin
From Drinking: When ale used to be ordered in either pints or quarts and you needed to be careful which P(int)s or Q(uart)you were given.Keep an account of what one orders..
The fact that typesetters needed to be careful when setting type because the 'p's and 'q's looked similar seems a better explanation.
A third, from Melissa Shenker, is 'mind your pleases and thankyous'.
This has the merit of being closer to the meaning of the phrase although the thankyous = thank 'q's stretches the imagination somewhat."
Source: Phrase Finder
2006-09-17 13:33:27 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The phrase actually came from the printing industry. Printers used to have all of their letters individually set on the top of metal pins about three inches long and a quarter of an inch square. These pins or letters would be placed in a rack in the right order to make up the required text. The P's and Q's with the early style of type looked almost identical (pq) it was imperative for the printer therefore, to make sure he had the right letter and the letter the right way up because one letter can look a bit like the other when up the wrong way. hence the term, mind your P's and Q's.
2006-09-16 08:44:12 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Meaning
Be on your best behaviour and be careful of your language.
Origin
There are various proposed explanations of this. Amongst the most plausible are the notion that ale used to be ordered in either pints or quarts and you needed to be careful which you were given. The fact that typesetters needed to be careful when setting type because the 'p's and 'q's looked similar seems a better explanation. A third, from Melissa Shenker, is 'mind your pleases and thankyous'. This has the merit of being closer to the meaning of the phrase although the thankyous = thank 'q's stretches the imagination somewhat.
2006-09-16 08:26:50 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
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2016-10-01 01:16:52 · answer #5 · answered by wichern 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Take care in what you do. Be attentive to detail. p and q are easy to mix up for little kids since they are mirrored images of each other.
On the other hand I seem to remember it had something to do with pints and quarts...still whatch what you are doing and be accurate.
Really both are just guesses.
2006-09-16 09:36:52 · answer #6 · answered by Yim 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The correct explanation comes from printing.The 'p' and the 'q' looked the same in the box.So the printers were told to mind your p's and q's
2006-09-16 08:38:26 · answer #7 · answered by adorehandel 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Came up in a pub quiz and the given answer was "pints and quarts"
2006-09-16 19:10:57 · answer #8 · answered by Daddybear 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
in olden days when a printer was setting up his press, the letter p was very similar to the letter q, and had to be very careful not to get the two mixed up, hence the term watch your Ps and Qs
2006-09-16 08:43:08 · answer #9 · answered by ricardotirelli 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is simply advice that used to be given to children practising their writing, and printers' apprentices setting type, to get the letters p and q the right way round. It later became generalised to indicate "take care in what you are doing".
2006-09-16 08:36:49 · answer #10 · answered by Sangmo 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋