“Mind your P’s and Q’s” means to behave well or pay attention to details—but its origins are a bit of a mystery. Several fun theories try to explain it:

Printing Pitfalls: In early printing, typesetters had to carefully handle the mirror-image lowercase "p" and "q" to avoid typos—hence, mind your P’s and Q’s.

Pints and Quarts: In English pubs, bartenders tracked drinks by marking down pints (P’s) and quarts (Q’s). Patrons had to watch their tab—and their tolerance.

Please and Thank-Q: A charming (though less proven) theory says the phrase reminded kids to mind their “pleases” and “thank you’s.”

Nautical Neatness: Some link it to sailors keeping their peacoats and queues (braided pigtails) in order.

Though the exact origin remains unclear, the phrase has been in use since at least the 1700s—appearing in Charles Churchill’s 1763 poem P’s and Q’s.