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What the heck does "Mind your Ps and Qs." mean?

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Posted - June 12, 2019

Responses


  • 46117
    Maybe they look so much alike when printed, it is a way of saying PAY ATTENTION to details.  

    (?) I made it up.    p and  q   see what I mean?  This post was edited by WM BARR . =ABSOLUTE TRASH at June 12, 2019 1:56 PM MDT
      June 12, 2019 1:54 PM MDT
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  • 44175
    Mirror images of the same letter. Clever.
      June 12, 2019 1:57 PM MDT
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  • 6023
      June 12, 2019 2:28 PM MDT
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  • 14795
    It means in pig English, be careful of what you say...don't swear at a judge or belittle him...if you offend him you will be In trouble
      June 12, 2019 2:36 PM MDT
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  • 14795
    Be humble and respectful 
      June 12, 2019 2:38 PM MDT
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  • Pints and quarts.   It specifically refers to alcohol consumption.  As in don't become belligerent. This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at June 12, 2019 6:12 PM MDT
      June 12, 2019 3:26 PM MDT
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  • Do you mind yours? 
      June 12, 2019 4:10 PM MDT
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  • For the most part.
      June 12, 2019 7:06 PM MDT
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  • 4631
    No one really knows.
    There are three guesses.

    One theory alleges that it was a warning to French gentlemen learning formal dancing in the 18th century to mind where they placed their feet (pieds) and watch that the pigtails on their wigs didn’t flick across the faces of other dancers.

    A second theory posits that it was a warning to type-setters when setting the lower-case letters p and q. These letters, when back-to-front in printers’ cases of lead type, were difficult to tell apart. The wrong choice might produce an embarrassing misprint on the page.

    Most likely is that Ps and Qs are “pleases and thankyous”; in other words, it’s a warning (particularly to children) to be polite when visiting someone else’s home or entertaining them in your own.

     

     

      June 12, 2019 4:59 PM MDT
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