What does the term "Mind your P's and Q's" mean?

Answer 1

My grandma used to say this to me all the time. It means to mind your manners.=)

Answer 2

To mind one's Ps and Qs is an English phrase meaning to mind one's manners, or, generally, to be careful of one's behaviour. It is sometimes written mind one's P's and Q's (though some feel that apostrophes are unnecessary in the plurals of capital letters), or mind one's p's and q's.


Origin
There are numerous theories about the origin of the phrase. One is that it began in British pubs as an abbreviation for "mind your pints and quarts." Supposedly, this warned the bartender to serve full measure, mark the customer's tab accurately, etc.

Another suggestion is that the phrase originated in the printing trade, at the time when printing presses used movable type set by hand. When looking at the type, all the letters are in mirror image so that they will print on paper correctly. Because the letters "p" and "q" look very similar and were stored side by side in the type cases, it was easy for a typesetter to pull a letter from the wrong slot and not notice this. When the type was removed from the press and sorted back into the type cases, mixing q's with p's was likely unless care was taken. A similar theory tells of a teacher instructing a young student to write p's and q's appropriately, as they look similar.

Some have suggested that "mind your Ps and Qs" means "mind your 'pleases' and 'thank-yous'", with the letters "p" and "q" standing as onomatopoeic representations of the respective words.

Still another theory hypothesizes that the term might be in some way connected to the phrase "peace and quiet."

In 1745 Francis I purportedly demanded that his troops mind their P's and Q's. In the late 1800s the phrase gained popularity in Victorian households.

Answer 3

In the old days, barkeepers would keep track of their patrons’ tabs by noting how many pints (ps) and quarts (qs) they had consumed on a blackboard behind the bar. Over the course of a busy evening, with many erasures and editings, and perhaps the handwriting of more than one barkeeper, patrons’ running tabs could get quite confusing. So “mind your ps and qs” was an admonition for patrons to try and keep a track of their own tab. Minding their own ps and qs could also be taken a gentle suggestion for patrons to watch how much consumed and not get too drunk. In modern usage, the expression means for one to “mind their manners”.

Answer 4

It has come to mean;mind your manners.
Here is where it is derived from;it is from the letters p & q.Notice that it is easy to make a typo there.Whether writing it with pen and paper or a word processor--it is an easy mistake.

So the old saying means--to be careful,to show care.
That is,to avoid a mistake that is easy to make if you are careless.

Answer 5

it came from a bar, and when fights would break out, the bartender'd say, "mind you're pints and quarts!"

nowadays it means mind your manners

Answer 6

Mind your Pints and Quarts <--original meaning (though I don't know what it refers to)

now it's mind your manners

Answer 7

it means pints and quarts back in olden days when drinks were given in a glasses holding pint measures and quarter pints, minding them ment dont get all excitied and knock over the table

Answer 8

Mind your manners.

http://www.worldwidewords.org/articles/psandqs.htm
^^^ Interesting article on the origin, or theorized origin anyway.

Answer 9

Pints and Quarts. Mind your own and settle down.

Answer 10

Mind your own business.