What does 'mind your Ps and Qs' mean?

41,366 views ・ 2019-12-09

BBC Learning English


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

00:08
Feifei: So, tonight's the night, Neil.
0
8120
2360
00:10
How do you feel?
1
10480
1340
00:11
Neil: A bit nervous, but mostly excited.
2
11820
2480
00:14
I've been practising
3
14300
1100
00:15
my speech all morning.
4
15400
1320
00:16
Feifei: Just go out there, smile, and don't
5
16720
2360
00:19
forget: mind your Ps and Qs!
6
19080
2180
00:21
Neil: Eh? I know how to spell, Feifei.
7
21260
2310
00:23
Feifei: You know what I mean!
8
23570
1369
00:24
Neil: Don't worry! I won't offend anyone.
9
24939
2180
00:27
Feifei: Mind your Ps and Qs
10
27119
1637
00:28
is our phrase in The English We Speak.
11
28756
2346
00:31
If someone tells you
12
31102
988
00:32
to mind your Ps and Qs, they're telling
13
32090
1910
00:34
you to be polite in a social situation, and
14
34000
2760
00:36
to be careful about what you say or do.
15
36760
2810
00:39
Neil: Feifei, I'm always on my best
16
39570
2186
00:41
behaviour. Now, let me
17
41756
1408
00:43
practise my speech.
18
43164
1216
00:44
Feifei: And I'll play some examples.
19
44380
1860
00:49
Gang, Gang, Gang! How many times
20
49540
2940
00:52
have I told you to mind
21
52480
1340
00:53
your Ps and Qs when you're with
22
53820
2060
00:55
your grandparents? Grandma doesn't
23
55880
2220
00:58
like that kind of language!
24
58100
2020
01:00
Last week's meeting with our new clients
25
60920
2080
01:03
was super frustrating.
26
63000
1840
01:04
But I had to mind my Ps and Qs.
27
64840
2140
01:06
As they say, the customer
28
66980
1940
01:08
is always right!
29
68920
1460
01:11
Lan always says the first thing that comes
30
71280
2480
01:13
into her head. I just hope she minds her
31
73760
2540
01:16
Ps and Qs at lunch today.
32
76300
2100
01:21
Feifei: You're listening to The English
33
81680
1700
01:23
We Speak from BBC Learning English.
34
83380
2440
01:25
In this programme we are looking at
35
85820
1720
01:27
the expression 'mind your Ps and Qs'.
36
87540
2560
01:30
So Neil, finished practising
37
90100
1740
01:31
your speech?
38
91840
960
01:32
Neil: Not yet. I've been distracted
39
92800
1500
01:34
by today's phrase. I've been
40
94300
1280
01:35
looking it up online.
41
95580
1200
01:36
Feifei: And?
42
96780
860
01:37
Neil: Nobody agrees where it comes from.
43
97640
1700
01:39
There are so many theories.
44
99340
1800
01:41
One is that printers
45
101149
1051
01:42
back in the 19th Century used
46
102210
1700
01:43
to get confused between
47
103910
1375
01:45
the small letters p and q.
48
105285
1555
01:46
Feifei: They do look similar! So they had
49
106840
2612
01:49
to mind their Ps and Qs. Makes sense.
50
109452
2358
01:51
Neil: And there's another about
51
111810
1530
01:53
bartenders in 17th Century England.
52
113340
2460
01:55
They used to serve beer in
53
115800
1300
01:57
measures called pints and quarts.
54
117100
3040
02:00
Pints with a 'P' and quarts with a 'Q'.
55
120140
2760
02:02
When a customer was
56
122900
1040
02:03
drinking too much...
57
123940
1300
02:05
Feifei: ... They told them to mind
58
125240
1260
02:06
their pints and quarts?
59
126500
1460
02:07
Their Ps and Qs. Yes, makes sense too.
60
127960
2720
02:10
Neil: And there's another...
61
130680
1300
02:11
Feifei: Neil?
62
131980
740
02:12
Neil: Yes?
63
132720
500
02:13
Feifei: Your speech is in one hour.
64
133220
2020
02:15
Shouldn't you be practising?
65
135240
1580
02:16
Neil: Oh! So it is.
66
136830
1490
02:18
Feifei: And... Mind your Ps and Qs!
67
138320
1960
02:20
Neil: OK. Bye.
68
140280
1240
02:21
Feifei: Bye.
69
141520
920
About this website

This site will introduce you to YouTube videos that are useful for learning English. You will see English lessons taught by top-notch teachers from around the world. Double-click on the English subtitles displayed on each video page to play the video from there. The subtitles scroll in sync with the video playback. If you have any comments or requests, please contact us using this contact form.

https://forms.gle/WvT1wiN1qDtmnspy7