what does 'p's and q's' mean?

Question

Oh God, I'm getting so many different answers (even racist ones!!)

Answer 1

P's and Q's


[edit] Etymology
Originally derived from the phrase originating in late to mid-1612 "To mind one's P's and Q's". In 1745 Francis I purportedly demanded that his troops mind their P's and Q's. In the late 1800's the phrase gained popularity in Victorian households. It may have originated in British pubs as an abbreviation for "mind your pints and quarts." Supposedly this warned the barkeep to serve full measure, mark the customer's tab accurately, etc. Another common theory is of a teacher telling a young student to write p's and q's appropriately, as they look similar.


[edit] Modern Uses
Today this phrase has come to refer to one's 'pleases' and 'thank-you's' with both letters 'p' and 'q' in onomatopoeic representation of their respective words. It is also used as a term to tell someone to be careful of their actions.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ps_and_Qs"

Answer 2

There r alot of meanings..here they r :



1~ This axiom, regardless of its origins, has been common in post-victorian Britain as an abbreviation of 'to mind your manners' or, more specifically, to say both 'please' (p's) and 'thankyou' (thank-Q).
Thus the phrase 'watch your p's and q's' has been in use to encourage people to speak politely, especially children, who remember such phrases better than just instructions.

2~ P's = Priorities Q's = Qualities

3~ Shortening for "Pints and Quarts", which were the two main measurements for drinks. Whereas now we use pints, half pints, shots etc, there used to be Pints and Quarts


4~ p's = paper as in money
q's = measurement of drugs


Hope ii Helpedd..... =)

Answer 3

In the days before printing, both the small "p" and the small "q" were depicted as circles with down stroke, the only difference being the small stroke differentiating the "q" at the bottom of the down stroke. Hence the need to be careful while copying. That is the old and traditional explanation.

However, you might be entertained by these possible explanations. http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1361596

Answer 4

Following on from one answer above - apparently its to do with the old beer servings of "pints" and "quarts".

If the bar started getting rowdy, then the bar man would shout "mind your pints and quarts" - hence "mind your p's and q's!

No idea if its true but sounds cool!

Answer 5

p's and q's comes from pints and quarts, from england I believe. This is what they told the barmaids to do, like make sure they poured and served the right amounts, "watch your pints and quarts."
Hope that helped.

Answer 6

"Watch your p's and q's" means to be very careful, or meticulous.

It comes from the names of removable type, when printers had to lay out each page they were going to print, one letter at a time. The lowercase q's and p's were very easy to confuse.

Answer 7

I hope that from the variety of inconsistent answers you now know that we have no clue. LOL!

Answer 8

its something they used to say back in the day when people forgot there manners eg saying please and thank you's,in short mind your p's and q's

Answer 9

I thought it mean't please and thank you but answer above sounds good to me

Answer 10

Please ........... curse