2007-06-16 07:36:11 · 6 answers · asked by hello world 7 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
It's not clearly derived, but here are some common ideas:
* Advice to a child learning its letters to be careful not to mix up the handwritten lower-case letters p and q.
* Similar advice to a printer’s apprentice, for whom the backward-facing metal type letters would be especially confusing.
* Jocular, or perhaps deadly serious, advice to a barman not to confuse the letters p and q on the tally slate, on which the letters stood for the pints and quarts consumed “on tick” by the patrons.
* An abbreviation of mind your please’s and thank-you’s.
* Instructions from a French dancing master to be sure to perform the dance figures pieds and queues accurately.
* An admonishment to seamen not to soil their navy pea-jackets with their tarred queues, that is, their pigtails.
2007-06-16 07:43:56 · answer #1 · answered by simonsays 2 · 4⤊ 0⤋
It is actually a term coined from the old printmaking industry, which is mostly considered an art form today. P's and Q's (when lower-case) are the same, only the actual printmaking tiles are reversed, so that when they are pressed to paper with ink they come out right. "Mind your P's and Q's" means that one should take care not to reverse the two and come out with words that are spelled incorrectly in the final piece. It has since evolved to mean that one should pay close attention to get something correct in any applicable situation.
2007-06-16 08:04:14 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
i don't know how true it is, but an old timer told me that it comes from teaching the difference in writing p and q in script. kids have a tendency to reverse them.
2007-06-16 07:40:15 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
you got some very good information as where it came from but if i was to say it today as you will know anyway means mind your business
2007-06-16 10:43:19 · answer #4 · answered by ausblue 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It menas mind your manners, particularly please and thank you. I learned it (many years ago) as "P" stood for please, and "Q" stood for thank you. As U say "Thank you" U get a Q sound in the middle, a bit like Than-Q. Hope this helps.
2007-06-16 11:11:47 · answer #5 · answered by SKCave 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well it means remember to say please and thank you. I don't know where it comes from, except all grandparents say it!
2007-06-16 07:44:06 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋