Re: Target: Mind your P's and Q's

[Kathy Clark <KathyC@HARKER.ORG>]

A favorite source for me is the Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and =
Fable,
available online through Bartleby.com (http://www.bartleby.com/), which =
by
the way is a terrific resource for lots of basic reference sources.=20

According to what's listed there:

Mind your P=92s and Q=92s. Be very circumspect in your behaviour.=0D =20
"Several explanations have been suggested, but none seems to be wholly
satisfactory. The following comes nearest to the point of the =
caution:=97In
the reign of Louis XIV., when wigs of unwieldy size were worn, and bows =
were
made with very great formality, two things were specially required, a =
=93step=94
with the feet, and a low bend of the body. In the latter the wig would =
be
very apt to get deranged, and even to fall off. The caution, therefore, =
of
the French dancing-master to his pupils was, =93Mind your P=92s [i.e. =
pieds,
feet] and Q=92s [i.e. queues, wigs].=94

***************
Kathy Clark
Librarian-Teacher
The Harker School
San Jose, CA
kathyc@harker.org

> ----------
> From:         Amy Appleberry
> Reply To:     Amy Appleberry
> Sent:         Wednesday, October 31, 2001 9:26 AM
> To:   LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
> Subject:      Target:  Mind your P's and Q's
>=20
> An 8th grade language arts teacher is studying the origins of sayings =
with
> her
> class.  She can't find any information on this statement. "Mind your =
P's
> and
> Q's".  The only thing she can find is that it came from the 17th =
century.
> Does anyone out there have some wonderful information that I can =
share
> with
> her?  Thanks.
> Amy Appleberry
> Nevada Middle School
> Nevada, MO
> aappleberry@nevada.k12.mo.us
>=20
> Have a great day!
> Amy Appleberry
>=20
> =
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