MIND ONE'S P'S AND Q'S Definition & Meaning

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mind one's p's and q's

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Idioms and Phrases

Practice good manners, be precise and careful in one's behavior and speech, as in Their grandmother often told the children to mind their p's and q's . The origin of this expression, first recorded in 1779, is disputed. Among the more interesting theories advanced is that bartenders kept track of customers' consumption in terms of pints (p's) and quarts (q's) and the phrase referred to an honest accounting; that schoolchildren were taught to be careful in distinguishing the letters p and q ; and that French dancing masters cautioned pupils about the correct performance of the figures pieds and queues (either abbreviated or mispronounced in English as p's and q's ).

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Example Sentences

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And the way one has to mind one's P's and Q's is trying to the last degree.

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And Uncle Silas was a very "grouchy" man, and one must mind one's P's and Q's, and never be naughty, or Uncle Silas would have the law of one.

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To mind one's P's and Q's; to be attentive to the 聽聽main chance.

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And so the worthy old housekeeper decided that on the whole it would be well to be careful鈥攖o mind one's P's and Q's as it were,鈥攖o pause before rushing pell-mell into a flood of unpremeditated speech, and to pay the strictest possible attention to her regular duties.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from 亚洲网紅露点 Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 漏 Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage庐 Idioms Dictionary copyright 漏 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

mind one's own business Mindoro

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