Does anyone know the origin of the expression " watch your P´s & Q´s"

[piggynose]

thanx

pn

[andy-hughes]

Answers vary - some say it comes from inns in the Middle Ages, when things got a bit rowdy, the landlord would shout 'Mind your pints and quarts!'.

More likely is advice given to novices setting type on the old hot metal presses - the letters p and q are similar, and it's easy to pick the wrong one and cause a typo.

[Playbill]

Not hot metal setting, andy-hughes, but cold metal. Hot metal was set using a keyboard like a typewriter or computer, so this problem would not occur. Cold metal type was set from a type-case where the letters where picked by hand. It was when they were replaced afterwards that mistakes occurred.

[Answerprancer]

I always thought it meant wat your P-leases and than-Q-s

[vivandorron]

I agree with the explanations already given. Although there is another one:-

In the France of LouisX1V when huge wigs were fashionable ,dancing masters would warn their pupils to 'mind your Ps (pieds, feet) and Qs (queues,wigs) lest they fall off when bending low to make formal bows.....Ref:-Brewers Dictionary of Phrase and Fable.

Ron.

[jno]

it seems to have meant the alphabet in general; see this explanation

http://www.worldwidew.../articles/psandqs.htm

[vivandorron]

jno...A very interesting link. I think this is now a thread for me Pee Quiet.:-)

Ron.

[jno]

it's a most entertaining website, full of stuff I didn't know, Ron