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P's and Q's
The contextual meaning of this phrase is "mind your manners," i.e. be on your best behavior. It is an imperative for politeness, etiquette, and social propriety. (For instance, "We're going to have dinner at the White House, so be on your best behavior. Mind your p's and q's.")
Unfortunately, the origin of this phrase has not been proven so far. However, there are many proposed origins. Often, a proposed origin will include a detailed historical background to lend it more plausibility. The two most popular explanations are as follows:
It originated in British pubs as an abbreviation for "mind your pints and quarts." Supposedly this warned the barkeep to serve full measure, mark the customer's tab accurately, etc. It has also been attributed as something the bartender would say to patrons, meaning they need to mind their own tabs.
It originated in the early days of movable type printing, when letters were placed manually. Because all letters and characters appeared in reverse when viewed directly (so that they would print forward when pressed onto paper), letters that were reverse images of one another (such as "p" and "q") would often get switched by accident. This led to the phrase "mind your p's and q's", a reminder to be attentive.
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Originally Posted by Mikey6p
SoCal Chat Thread
now with 85% less retardation.
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Originally Posted by AXIS
it means mind your manners i googled haha
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Absolutely. Just talk normal to one another, and all will be fine. If you happen to see rude, or foul posts, hit the report button. You do not need to reply, or do anything else.
Let us clean it up. There is no reason for you guys to be punished for things others are doing.
03-12-2010, 11:15 PM
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