My friend's dad asked my friend what that saying means.
2006-11-10 10:58:02 · 9 answers · asked by Tye dye 2 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
"This expression, meaning "be very careful to behave correctly",
has been in use from the 17th century on. Theories include: an
admonishment to children learning to write; an admonishment to
typesetters (who had to look at the letters reversed); an
admonishment to seamen not to soil their navy pea-jackets with
their tarred "queues" (pigtails); "mind your pints and quarts";
"mind your prices and quality"; "mind your pieds and queues"
(either feet and pigtails, or two dancing figures that had to be
accurately performed); the substitution of /p/ for "qu" /kw/ in the
speech of uneducated ancient Romans; or the confusion by students
learning both Latin and Ancient Greek of such cognates as pente
and quintus. And yes, we've heard the joke about the instruction
to new sextons: "Mind your keys and pews."
The most plausible explanation is the one given in the latest
edition of Collins English Dictionary: an alteration of "Mind
your 'please's and 'thank you's"."
2006-11-10 13:33:52 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It means:be careful. Like others have said, the typesetting thing was easy to mix up. And kids often have problems with which side they should put the "stick" on a p or a q.
A similar saying is "dot your i's and cross your t's." That means be careful, too, but also be sure you have done the work completely and to the best of your ability.
2006-11-10 20:22:18 · answer #2 · answered by Madame M 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think you mean 'Minding your P's & Q's'. It basically means pronounce your words correctly. For example kids today often speak in slang or in a sloppy manner. When I was young for the number 40 it was 'in' to say fourie - like fourty but missing out the T. My Dad always had a right go at me about that. LOL
2006-11-10 19:02:43 · answer #3 · answered by jen 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not only was it easy to mix up "p" and "q" in early typesetting, the tails of these letters tended to break off when typesetting was done with metal letters. So, mind your p's and q's also means to check all of them to be sure the tails hadn't broken off. Today the expression has evolved to mean pay attention to details, although people also use it to mean "behave." Best wishes!
2006-11-10 19:33:10 · answer #4 · answered by meatpiemum 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Back in the days when print was typeset with individual letters on old printing presses, it was possible to mistake p's for q's and vice versa.
Minding one's p's and q's meant paying attention to which letter you were using when you were setting the type, so that you didn't use the wrong one. The expression means to pay attention to details, and be careful with your words and behavior.
2006-11-10 19:00:21 · answer #5 · answered by Bad Kitty! 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I thought it was "minding" your pints and quarts in the english pubs.
2006-11-10 19:00:40 · answer #6 · answered by G-Man 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Saying your "Pleases" (Ps) and "Thank yous" (Qs - "ThanQ!")... i.e. it simply means speaking nicely and being polite!
2006-11-10 19:05:40 · answer #7 · answered by poleydee 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
BlueJulie is correct.
2006-11-10 19:09:58 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
my father always used that term as us kids were growing up...mind your p's and q's ..... or mind your own business
2006-11-10 19:02:34 · answer #9 · answered by madder than hell 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋