Earl wants to know what "mind your P's and Q's" means?

Question

Could you answer Earl's question please?

Earl's an impatient person.

Answer 1

Mind Your P's & Q's

Dear Evan: I was wondering where the expression "Mind your P's and Q's" came from -- Sarah, Natrona Heights, PA.

First of all, I must say that I really like the card Sarah used to send in her question, which features a small dog evidently named Claudia. I'm a sucker for dog pictures.

As to where "mind your P's and Q's," meaning "be very careful" or "behave yourself" came from, I'm afraid that there is no clear answer, though folks have been saying it since the late 1700's. The consolation is that there are a number of fascinating theories, so you can pretty much take your pick of the following.

One theory is that the phrase comes from the practice in certain British pubs of tallying a customer's purchases on a blackboard behind the bar, with the notation "P" standing for "pints" and "Q" for quarts. If a customer failed to pay close attention and "mind his P's and Q's," he might well find by evening's end that the barkeep had padded his tab.

Another theory, drawn from the schoolroom, is that any child approaching the mystery of penmanship soon discovers that the lowercase "p" is devilishly easy to confuse with the lowercase "q." Thus, the theory goes, generations of teachers exhorting their small charges to "mind your P's and Q's" created a enduring metaphor for being attentive and careful. A similar theory centers on typesetters in old-fashioned printing shops, where the danger of confusing lowercase "p" and "q" was increased because typesetters had to view the typeset text backwards.

Still other theories tie the "P" to "pea" cloth (the rough fabric used in "pea jackets") and the "Q" to "queue," which meant a ponytail, either that of the fancy wigs worn by courtiers of the day or the real ponytails commonly worn by sailors. In the upscale version of this theory, young aristocrats were cautioned not to get the powder from their wigs on their jackets made of pea cloth. The sailor version has old salts advising newcomers to dip their ponytails in tar (a common practice, believe it or not), but to avoid soiling their pea jackets with the tar.

Answer 2

Mind your P's and Q's comes from the days when everything printed was done by type set. All letters are backward to print correctly on paper. There for lower case p's would look like q's and visa versa. Took Graphic arts in the 80's and had my fair share of problems with my P's and Q's

Answer 3

Pronunciations and puns: (1) The term, reduced to "peas and kyous," comes from p(l)eas(es) and (than)k yous (which would establish a pretty direct connection to manners). (2) In the court of Louis XIV, dancing masters cautioned fledgling courtiers to mind their pieds (their dancing feet) and queues (their full wigs--the so-called "periwigs" or long "perruques" worn by fashionable men, sometimes including an even longer braided strand hanging down the back and tied with a ribbon). What with all that bobbing and curtsying, it would have been awkward if the courtiers' wigs fell off or they tripped on their hair. (3) Attested in an earlier citation (1602), "Now thou art in thy pee and cue," the references are to a fashionable "pea coat" and probably again to a "queue."

Answer 4

It comes from the days of laying out printing blocks, for newspapers etc, by hand.

These blocks were laid out with the letters reversed so the print was the correct way round.

Mind your P's & Q's was simply a printers reminder because of p & q being mirror images of each other in most fonts

Answer 5

It comes from an admonition to bartenders to mind their pints and quarts, meaning to pay attention and not over or under serve the customer.

Answer 6

Pay attention to what you're doing.

Look at the letters P and Q in calligraphy. Notice any similarity? That's what they were talking about.

Answer 7

Proper etiQuette

Answer 8

It means don't be rude- to think before you speak.

Answer 9

pints and quarts

Answer 10

Simply put, it means mind your business, or be polite. Say please (P) and thank you (Q).