The origin of the phrase “remember your Ps and Qs” is unclear, but one theory suggests it relates to bars keeping track of pints and quarts served. Another theory involves confusion between lowercase Ps and Qs in printing and handwriting. A chess-related explanation is also suggested.
The phrase “remember your Ps and Qs” is often used to remind people to be careful and to be on their best behavior. It appears to have emerged around 1600 and the exact origins are actually a bit obscure. There are numerous theories to explain the roots of the idiom, although these theories have varying levels of credibility. Ultimately, the story behind this phrase may never truly be known.
One of the most probable theories about “watch out for Ps and Qs” is related to the pints and quarts served in bars. Many bars and pubs traditionally kept records of customers on a large slate board, adding up the P’s and Q’s at the end of the night. A smart customer would have kept an eye on this list to make sure the bartender wasn’t faking the numbers. Some bartenders have even theorized that bar staff may have been admonished to pay attention to their Ps and Qs, keeping track of how many drinks they dispensed over the course of the night.
In this sense, one should also remain relatively sober to keep one’s eyes open. This sobriety would, of course, translate into a generally better standard of behavior. This explanation for the phrase is one of the most accepted, as it seems the most rational.
Some printers have suggested that the term may be related to composition. The movable type is projected backwards so that it prints the correct way, and lowercase Ps and Qs are easily confused in the case of type, since the letters are mirror images of each other. Of course, the same could be said of lowercase Bs and Ds, and the phrase isn’t “beware of Bs and Ds.”
A child just learning to read and write may also be reminded to “watch out for Ps and Qs,” as lowercase letters can be confusing. This explanation is also weak, however, as P and Q appear much less commonly than B and D in handwriting, and surely even people just learning to read could get these letters wrong. Furthermore, correct spelling has no clear link to good behavior, and since many people use the term in the sense of behaving, these explanations leave both to be desired.
Some people also say that “watch out for Ps and Qs” is a chess term, as in “watch out for pawns and queens.” One would certainly want to keep track of both pawns and queens, as these pieces can be crucial in a chess game. However, there is no clear and obvious link between playing chess well and behaving well, so this explanation seems a bit weak.
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