mind your p's and q's

mind your p's and q's
Meaning
Be on your best behaviour and be careful of your language.
Origin
There are various proposed explanations of this. Amongst the most plausible are the notion that ale used to be ordered in either pints or quarts and you needed to be careful which you were given. The fact that typesetters needed to be careful when setting type because the 'p's and 'q's looked similar seems a better explanation. A third, from Melissa Shenker, is 'mind your pleases and thankyous'. This has the merit of being closer to the meaning of the phrase although the thankyous = thank 'q's stretches the imagination somewhat.

Meaning and origin of phrases. 2013.

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  • mind your p's and q's — mind your p’s and q’s phrase used for telling someone to speak and behave in a way that is suitable to a particular situation You’d better mind your p’s and q’s when you meet Julia’s parents. Thesaurus: polite behavioursynonym Main entry: mind *… …   Useful english dictionary

  • mind (your) p's and q's — mind/watch (your) p s and q s old fashioned to make an effort to be polite. You always felt as if you had to mind your p s and q s with Auntie Lil …   New idioms dictionary

  • mind your p's and q's — mind (your) p s and q s to pay close attention to small details. There had been two recent security problems in the company and everyone should mind their p s and q s …   New idioms dictionary

  • mind your p's and q's — I. Mind Your P s and Q s If you are careful about the way you behave and are polite, you mind Your P s and Q s. II. Mind your P s and Q s This is used as a way of telling someone to be polite and behave well …   The small dictionary of idiomes

  • mind Your P's and Q's —    If you are careful about the way you behave and are polite, you mind Your P s and Q s.   (Dorking School Dictionary) …   English Idioms & idiomatic expressions

  • mind your p's and q's — used for telling someone to speak and behave in a way that is suitable to a particular situation You d better mind your p s and q s when you meet Julia s parents …   English dictionary

  • Mind Your P's and Q's —   If you are careful about the way you behave and are polite, you mind Your P s and Q s …   Dictionary of English idioms

  • mind your P's and Q's — be polite, do not drink too much, mind your manners    Lorraine said he was drinking too much. She told him to mind his P s and Q s …   English idioms

  • watch (your) p's and q's — mind/watch (your) p s and q s old fashioned to make an effort to be polite. You always felt as if you had to mind your p s and q s with Auntie Lil …   New idioms dictionary

  • Mind Your Language — Title screen Format Comedy Created by Vince Powell Starring Barry Evans Albert Moses George Camiller …   Wikipedia

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