when people say "watch your P's and Q's"...........?

Question

what does the "P" and "Q'' mean?

Answer 1

The ONLINE Urban Dictionary says: From an old printer's axiom. Back in the early days of printing presses, each line of text had to be set up one letter at a time. Since the letters in the press were reversed (so they'd print forward), the printmaker (or typographer) needed to be careful not to confuse one letter for the other. Reminding someone to "watch his p's and q's" means to pay attention to the details.

Answer 2

Mind your P's and Q's
Meaning: Behave properly.
Example: Since his drunk driving arrest, he has been minding his Ps and Qs.

Origin: Comes from the early pub days when beer and ale was served in pint and quart containers. The tab was kept on a chalkboard used to count the pints and quarts consumed. To watch your Ps and Qs is to control your alcoholic intake and behavior.
Not only did pub keepers maintain the count of pints and quarts consumed, they often maintained a tab for regular customers, especially sailors. The sailors tab was sometimes paid directly out of the sailors pay by the ship's captain. This to assure the pub keeper of payment.

However, this created the opportunity for the pub keeper to charge for a few extra pints and quarts. And in some cases the captain was in on this little deception, and shared in the extra payment. Hence it was to the sailors best interest to keep count of the pints and quarts. To mind his Ps and Qs.

Alternative: Lower case Ps and Qs look similar and can be mistaken for each other. When setting moveable type printing presses, "minding your Ps and Qs" is important.

Similarly, a person just learning how to write could easily confuse lower case Ps and Qs. Hence a need to be careful and "mind your P's and Q's".

Alternative: Ps and Qs may just be a childish word play for "please and thank yous"! Certainly this seems to fit with the accepted meaning.

Answer 3

In olden days (with a large group of pubs), bartenders used to tell their patrons "Mind your Pints and Quarts!" if they got too rowdy (because he didn't want to clean up a massive mess). Pints and Quarts, of course, being measurements of cups that beer/ale is drunk in. Slowly, this evolved to "Mind your P's and Q's", and basically has the same meaning - watch what you say and do so you don't cause a big mess.

Answer 4

In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts... So in old England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them "Mind your pints and quarts, and settle down." It's where we get the phrase "mind your P's and Q's"

i JUST read that in an email my freind sent me like an hour before i read this question

Answer 5

The phrase is "mind your p's and q's." It means to be careful and pay attention to detail. It comes from the old days when we used printing presses and the p's and q's looked similar and would often times get mixed up.

Answer 6

pints a quarts,from the old days meaning watch out and mind your manners ,another is pleases and thank yous see the urban dictionary you might like it

Answer 7

It's from bars and taverns. When things got too rowdy, barkeeps would yell for the patrons to "mind their pints and quarts"-of alcohol, of course.

Answer 8

thank goodness for the urban dickshunary. oops, my bad!

Answer 9

it's "p" and "q" and it's that they are the same thing just backwards.... pay attention so you don't get things backwards.

Answer 10

yeah.....what they said....