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Why do we mind our P's and Q's, instead of our V's and W's?
Question
#38683. Asked by Hamlet.. (Sep 11 03 7:05 PM)
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sequoianoir
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I bet Germans mind their V's and W's (or even their VW's)
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sequoianoir
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Actually minding your p's and q's is down to printing and the job of type-setter.
p is almost q back to front
When setting type in order to print a newspaper page for instance, all the letters are put in back to front and each letter is the reverse of the finished printed article.
So what looks like a q in the type set actually prints a p and vice-versa.
It was a fairly common mistake to get these mixed up so type setters were asked to "mind their p's and q's" so as to pay special attention and not to get them transposed.
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fosse4
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The alternative version is to watch what the barman put on your bar tab/bill P for pints, Q for quarts(2 pints)
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satguru
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As far as manners was concerned, I was always told it was for please and thank you's, though the print version could have come first, or vice versa.
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peasypod
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Isn't it funny how we call it a double U when in fact it is a double v!
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