A few days ago
Cinnibuns

When someone says “Mind your p’s and q’s”, for what does the p and q stand?

When someone says “Mind your p’s and q’s”, for what does the p and q stand?

Top 8 Answers
A few days ago
donna

Favorite Answer

Thats an expression that came from the Navy… Back in the day, when the sailors would pull into port and go to the bars, they would keep track of how many beers they had with Ps (pints) and Qs (quarts). “mind your p’s and q’s” was a reminder to them from the bartender to keep track of how much they owed!
5

A few days ago
poof10958
i don’t think they stand for anything. I always took that to mean mind your manners and follow all the rules. I thought it was a reference to learning to write and how easy it was to mix up the p and q when writing.
1

A few days ago
Fr. Al
Pints and Quarts. Pay attention to the measures, keep your bar (Pub) tallies accurate.
1

A few days ago
J-ROD
i believe in germany or some other country, when folks were at bars in the olden days, if there was someone eavesdropping, they would tell that person to mind there pounds and quarts(referring to the mug of beer they were drinking). not excatly sure though.
0

A few days ago
Anonymous
Mind your p’s and q’s as a whole just means….

“Mind your own business.”

Don’t know what p and q stand for though.

0

A few days ago
Anonymous
the p and q stand for the similar letters p and q, respectively.
0

A few days ago
Farmer & Granny Crabtree
Well your P’s are your

“promiscuous penfoldian poontang”

and yer Q’s are you

“Quacky Qwazy Quinine-guzzlin’ queerfolk”

as near as I can guess…..

0

A few days ago
Tiger Lilly
pints and quarts
2