In polite company you have to watch what you say, be careful to use the right tone and turn of phrase and not to offend.

‘Mind your Ps and Qs’, your mum would say!

As with many phrases of our oral tradition the exact origin is not clear but there are some very believable theories, one or all of which, may be true.

The first is that it derives from the phrase prime quality meaning the finest or best.

As an abbreviation of this, mind your p’s and q’s would mean to be thorough in your work so as to ensure high quality. The second is that it refers to the difficulty children had in learning to distinguish between the letters p and q.

Governesses and tutors would use the phrase ‘mind one’s p’s and q’s and this extended its meaning to be careful of your language and behaviour.

Similarly, the phrase could refer to printers minding their p’s and q’s when setting the type.

The third suggestion is that it comes from a way of keeping a tally of customers’ drinks in pubs and taverns. Marks under columns (p, for pint, or q, for quart), would be made on a blackboard.

Both drinker and bartender had to ‘mind their ps & qs’, the first to make sure he was not paying for another’s drinks and the latter to make sure all drinks were paid for.

The next and perhaps most popular theory is that it is a shortened form of ‘mind your pleases and thank yous’.

My favourite, is the story that the origin is in the expression ‘mind your toupees and your queues’. The toupee being false hair and the queue being a pigtail, to maintain one’s hairdo one had to behave in a dignified manner!