Monday, February 17, 2025

Minding Our P's and Q's

When you hear the phrase "mind your p's and q's" what do you think?
Most would use this definition: To mind one's p's and q's is to be on one's best behavior, to mind one's manners. 

That's what I thought until the last sentence in this news story baffled me. 



When my grandfather wrote this in his "Cross Fork News," in 1905, his use of 'p's' and 'q's' was the one he knew best.

I had to look far down on the Google and AI suggestions to find an explanation that makes it all clear - though I'm sure I could have posed the question to my typographer mother for the clarifying answer.

In the days of hot metal typography, the phrase was an admonition to trainee typesetters. Lower case "p" and "q" would be in adjacent trays - and the letters are mirror images of each other.

Now his choice of words makes perfect sense and I believe we could easily substitute "Donald Trump" for W.H. Sullivan and come up with an answer for how he was first elected and then re-elected - there were too many who failed take to the tall timber and watch their p's and q's.


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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It is beyond bad manners to support that one in the White House. No minding of p's and q's for that man and his minions.

February 17, 2025 at 3:36 PM

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