But what does exactly P's and Q's stand for?
2007-01-21 01:27:45 · 10 answers · asked by SmartL 1 in Social Science ➔ Psychology
p's an q's as i know them stand for please and thank you. when someone says mind you p's and q's, they are in effect telling you to mind your manners. so i guess mind your own p's and q's would be asking you to mind your own manners, probably instead of talking about someone else's. if anyone said that to you... they probably think you spend to much time telling others what's wrong with their character and or manners when you have your own faults to deal with.
2007-01-21 01:42:01 · answer #1 · answered by daixyflexi 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
i read something about this on the OED website a while back. i heard the p and q handwriting/writing confusion, however i think the more likely, or perhaps simply more relevant, is that it is a kind of contraction of 'mind your pleases and thank yous', as in england at least, this phrase means something akin to mind your manners, or be respectful. hope this helped!
2016-03-29 07:25:22 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Comes from a long time ago from when bar tenders used to mark on a slate the number of Pints and Quarts a customer drank. Hence the P's & Q's. The customer had to remember also what he drank to make sure the total was correct.
2007-01-21 01:42:26 · answer #3 · answered by quarefish 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This is one theory:
I was told once it was from people involved in old printing shops using the printing press, which involved setting up pages at a time with each letter in block form ordered to press the type onto paper, this was especially difficult considering it had to be backwards on the actual press. So, of course, people often got their p's and q's mixed up, it became a phrase of caution among the profession. "Mind your p's and q's."
2007-01-21 01:37:22 · answer #4 · answered by Not so looney afterall 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
In the old days (before word processing) printed material was
made by "setting type". Actual individual pieces of metal in the shape of all the letters in the alphabet. As the "Type Setters" would load the printing equipment they had to watch closely for "like shaped" letters. A lower case "p" resembles a lower case"q". So..."mind your p's and q's".
2007-01-21 01:39:26 · answer #5 · answered by BooyaChef 1 · 3⤊ 0⤋
As a child I thought A peas on your plate not to roll off on the table and Ques of when to speak when spoken to or you will get a back hand for jumping into grown folks conversation...
2007-01-21 01:37:19 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
I think it is suppose to be "mind your P's and Q's" and I think it means to be on your best behavior, without getting personal and asking too many questions. This is how I have always understood it. My mom would say that to me when I was a kid and I said it to mine..
2007-01-21 01:43:14 · answer #7 · answered by shinkickertx 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
That's not what it means at all! Look at the lower case letters p and q : they are mirror images of each other, and many schoolchildren would mistakenly use the wrong one. So it means be careful of making mistakes.
2007-01-21 01:37:26 · answer #8 · answered by CLICKHEREx 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Behaving appropriately = minding your p's & q's.
2007-01-21 01:35:36 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
This is a British saying, and it means to be sure to use 'please' (p's) and 'thank-yous' (q's)
2007-01-21 01:56:04 · answer #10 · answered by sphocas 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋