SC - off topic but slightly interesting if true

[Michael F. Gunter]

Looks like there were a few folklore lexicon inaccuracies in this posting.

>  >> In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts.  so in old
>  >> England, when
>  >> customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them to mind their
>  >> own pints and quarts and settle down.  It's where we get the phrase
>  >> "mind your P's and Q's".

"Mind your P's and Q's." was a rule to printers. The printing blocks were backward
so that the reverse image was correct on the page.  Apprentice printers frequently got
the lower-case P's and Q's mixed up.

"Minding one's P's and Q's" meant to keep your mind on the work and not get distracted.

Yers,

Gunthar

PS. Now should we discuss "The whole nine yards?"
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