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class="header-image bg-image" style="background-image: url(https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/cropped-About-Words-blog-header-2560x888-1.jpg)"> <img src="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/cropped-About-Words-blog-header-2560x888-1.jpg" width="1280" height="443" alt=""> </div> </a> <div id="content" class="site-content"> <div id="primary" class="content-area"> <main id="main" class="site-main" role="main"> <header class="page-header"> <h1 class="page-title">Author: <span>Trevor Bryden</span></h1><div class="taxonomy-description">Trevor Bryden was an editorial cartoonist who ran a multi-paneled cartoon strip for a number of years that featured British Columbia’s provincial legislature. Now retired he has been indulging an interest in the evolution of words and phrases in the English language. Naturally he could not resist the temptation to illustrate some of the unusual and quirky examples in cartoon form. He is in the process of compiling a collection of “Illustrated Word and Phrase Origins” that will both inform and entertain his readers while, at the same time, stimulate an interest in the history of words.”</div> </header> <article id="post-1435" class="post-1435 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-the-english-language tag-etymology tag-illustrated-word-origins tag-the-english-language"> <div class="entry-wrapper"> <header class="entry-header"> <h1 class="entry-title"><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2012/04/17/mind-your-ps-and-qs/" rel="bookmark">Mind your p’s and q’s</a></h1> <div class="entry-meta"> <span class="posted-on">On <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2012/04/17/mind-your-ps-and-qs/" rel="bookmark"><time class="entry-date published" datetime="2012-04-17T09:00:36+01:00">April 17, 2012</time><time class="updated" datetime="2012-04-27T12:31:03+01:00">April 27, 2012</time></a></span><span class="byline"> By <span class="author vcard"><a class="url fn n" href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/author/trevorbryden/">Trevor Bryden</a></span></span><span class="cat-links">In <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/category/the-english-language/" rel="category tag">the English language</a></span><span class="comments-link"><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2012/04/17/mind-your-ps-and-qs/#comments">23 Comments</a></span> </div> </header> <div class="entry-content"> <p>By <a href="http://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/trevor-bryden/" target="_blank">Trevor Bryden</a></p> <p>What does the phrase <a href="http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/mind-your-p-s-and-q-s#mind-your-p-s-and-q-s__1" target="_blank">mind your p’s and q’s </a>mean and where does it come from? Trevor Bryden’s latest cartoon illustrates the origin of this phrase.</p> <p><img data-recalc-dims="1" fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="1459" data-permalink="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2012/04/17/mind-your-ps-and-qs/minding-your-ps-and-qs_pt1-2/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/minding-your-ps-and-qs_pt11.png?fit=455%2C410&ssl=1" data-orig-size="455,410" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":""}" data-image-title="MINDING-YOUR-P’S-AND-Q’S_pt1" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/minding-your-ps-and-qs_pt11.png?fit=300%2C270&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/minding-your-ps-and-qs_pt11.png?fit=455%2C410&ssl=1" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1459" title="MINDING-YOUR-P'S-AND-Q'S_pt1" src="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/minding-your-ps-and-qs_pt11.png?resize=450%2C405" alt="" width="450" height="405" /> <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2012/04/17/mind-your-ps-and-qs/#more-1435" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">“Mind your p’s and q’s”</span> <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p> <div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon sd-sharing"><h3 class="sd-title">Share this:</h3><div class="sd-content"><ul><li class="share-facebook"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-facebook-1435" class="share-facebook sd-button share-icon no-text" href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2012/04/17/mind-your-ps-and-qs/?share=facebook" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Facebook" ><span></span><span class="sharing-screen-reader-text">Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</span></a></li><li class="share-twitter"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-twitter-1435" class="share-twitter sd-button share-icon no-text" href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2012/04/17/mind-your-ps-and-qs/?share=twitter" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Twitter" ><span></span><span class="sharing-screen-reader-text">Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</span></a></li><li class="share-reddit"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-reddit sd-button share-icon no-text" href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2012/04/17/mind-your-ps-and-qs/?share=reddit" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Reddit" ><span></span><span class="sharing-screen-reader-text">Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)</span></a></li><li class="share-email"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-email sd-button share-icon no-text" href="mailto:?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20Mind%20your%20p%27s%20and%20q%27s&body=https%3A%2F%2Fdictionaryblog.cambridge.org%2F2012%2F04%2F17%2Fmind-your-ps-and-qs%2F&share=email" target="_blank" title="Click to email a link to a friend" data-email-share-error-title="Do you have email set up?" data-email-share-error-text="If you're having problems sharing via email, you might not have email set up for your browser. 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Trevor Bryden illustrates how some of them came about:</p> <p><a href="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/what-makes-a-litter_pt12.png"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="1316" data-permalink="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2012/02/27/what-makes-a-litter/what-makes-a-litter_pt1/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/what-makes-a-litter_pt12.png?fit=444%2C400&ssl=1" data-orig-size="444,400" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":""}" data-image-title="WHAT MAKES A LITTER_pt1" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/what-makes-a-litter_pt12.png?fit=300%2C270&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/what-makes-a-litter_pt12.png?fit=444%2C400&ssl=1" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1316" title="WHAT MAKES A LITTER_pt1" src="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/what-makes-a-litter_pt12.png?resize=444%2C400" alt="" width="444" height="400" /></a> <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2012/02/27/what-makes-a-litter/#more-1282" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">“What makes a litter?”</span> <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p> <div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon sd-sharing"><h3 class="sd-title">Share this:</h3><div class="sd-content"><ul><li class="share-facebook"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-facebook-1282" class="share-facebook sd-button share-icon no-text" href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2012/02/27/what-makes-a-litter/?share=facebook" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Facebook" ><span></span><span class="sharing-screen-reader-text">Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</span></a></li><li class="share-twitter"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-twitter-1282" class="share-twitter sd-button share-icon no-text" href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2012/02/27/what-makes-a-litter/?share=twitter" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Twitter" ><span></span><span class="sharing-screen-reader-text">Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</span></a></li><li class="share-reddit"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-reddit sd-button share-icon no-text" href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2012/02/27/what-makes-a-litter/?share=reddit" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Reddit" ><span></span><span class="sharing-screen-reader-text">Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)</span></a></li><li class="share-email"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-email sd-button share-icon no-text" href="mailto:?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20What%20makes%20a%20litter%3F&body=https%3A%2F%2Fdictionaryblog.cambridge.org%2F2012%2F02%2F27%2Fwhat-makes-a-litter%2F&share=email" target="_blank" title="Click to email a link to a friend" data-email-share-error-title="Do you have email set up?" data-email-share-error-text="If you're having problems sharing via email, you might not have email set up for your browser. 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Let us know what you think!</p> <p><a href="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/let-the-cat-out-of-the-bag_pt1.png"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="1041" data-permalink="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2011/12/06/letting-the-cat-out-of-the-bag/let-the-cat-out-of-the-bag_pt1/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/let-the-cat-out-of-the-bag_pt1.png?fit=445%2C400&ssl=1" data-orig-size="445,400" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":""}" data-image-title="LET THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG_pt1" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/let-the-cat-out-of-the-bag_pt1.png?fit=300%2C270&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/let-the-cat-out-of-the-bag_pt1.png?fit=445%2C400&ssl=1" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1041" title="LET THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG_pt1" src="https://i0.wp.com/dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/let-the-cat-out-of-the-bag_pt1.png?resize=445%2C400" alt="" width="445" height="400" /></a></p> <p> <a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2011/12/06/letting-the-cat-out-of-the-bag/#more-1030" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">“Letting the cat out of the bag”</span> <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p> <div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon sd-sharing"><h3 class="sd-title">Share this:</h3><div class="sd-content"><ul><li class="share-facebook"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-facebook-1030" class="share-facebook sd-button share-icon no-text" href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2011/12/06/letting-the-cat-out-of-the-bag/?share=facebook" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Facebook" ><span></span><span class="sharing-screen-reader-text">Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</span></a></li><li class="share-twitter"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-twitter-1030" class="share-twitter sd-button share-icon no-text" href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2011/12/06/letting-the-cat-out-of-the-bag/?share=twitter" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Twitter" ><span></span><span class="sharing-screen-reader-text">Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)</span></a></li><li class="share-reddit"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-reddit sd-button share-icon no-text" href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2011/12/06/letting-the-cat-out-of-the-bag/?share=reddit" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Reddit" ><span></span><span class="sharing-screen-reader-text">Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)</span></a></li><li class="share-email"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-email sd-button share-icon no-text" href="mailto:?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20Letting%20the%20cat%20out%20of%20the%20bag&body=https%3A%2F%2Fdictionaryblog.cambridge.org%2F2011%2F12%2F06%2Fletting-the-cat-out-of-the-bag%2F&share=email" target="_blank" title="Click to email a link to a friend" data-email-share-error-title="Do you have email set up?" data-email-share-error-text="If you're having problems sharing via email, you might not have email set up for your browser. 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href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2011/12/12/a-few-words-on-corpus-linguistics/" title="A few words on corpus linguistics">A few words on corpus linguistics</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/author/cambridgewords/"> <img alt='1' src='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/aef1e4cb2fd31e8f50444ca18ada3b49?s=48&d=identicon&r=g' srcset='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/aef1e4cb2fd31e8f50444ca18ada3b49?s=96&d=identicon&r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-48 photo' height='48' width='48' decoding='async'/> <strong>Cambridge Words</strong></a><ul><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/11/25/new-words-25-november-2024-2/" title="New words – 25 November 2024">New words – 25 November 2024</a></li><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/11/20/cambridge-dictionary-word-of-the-year-2024/" title="Cambridge Dictionary’s Word of the Year 2024">Cambridge Dictionary’s Word of the Year 2024</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/author/colinjmcintosh/"> <img alt='1' src='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/50053df1e6dad3114823d445b2ffaa08?s=48&d=identicon&r=g' srcset='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/50053df1e6dad3114823d445b2ffaa08?s=96&d=identicon&r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-48 photo' height='48' width='48' decoding='async'/> <strong>colinjmcintosh</strong></a><ul><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2016/08/02/a-life-beyond-fiction/" title="A life beyond fiction">A life beyond fiction</a></li><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2016/07/26/whats-in-a-name/" title="What’s in a name?">What’s in a name?</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/author/domcambridge/"> <img alt='1' src='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/0f327ac6616afccb2cad6596b5597928?s=48&d=identicon&r=g' srcset='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/0f327ac6616afccb2cad6596b5597928?s=96&d=identicon&r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-48 photo' height='48' width='48' decoding='async'/> <strong>Dom Glennon</strong></a><ul><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2014/11/26/countability-grammar-codes/" title="Countability – grammar codes">Countability – grammar codes</a></li><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2014/06/04/hairdryers-and-squeaky-bums-the-colourful-world-of-football-words/" title="Hairdryers and squeaky bums: the colourful world of football words">Hairdryers and squeaky bums: the colourful world of football words</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/author/drheikek/"> <img alt='1' src='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/ca0ebdcb2fdc28a6eeaf6b28ca63a6cb?s=48&d=identicon&r=g' srcset='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/ca0ebdcb2fdc28a6eeaf6b28ca63a6cb?s=96&d=identicon&r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-48 photo' height='48' width='48' decoding='async'/> <strong>Dr Heike Krüsemann</strong></a><ul><li><a 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src='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/4a29a1e94375522c0920818e6d4c4249?s=48&d=identicon&r=g' srcset='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/4a29a1e94375522c0920818e6d4c4249?s=96&d=identicon&r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-48 photo' height='48' width='48' decoding='async'/> <strong>Liz Walter</strong></a><ul><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/11/06/nobody-blames-you-phrases-for-offering-reassurance/" title="Nobody blames you: phrases for offering reassurance">Nobody blames you: phrases for offering reassurance</a></li><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2024/10/16/wise-brainy-or-astute-words-for-describing-intelligent-people/" title="Wise, brainy, or astute: words for describing intelligent people">Wise, brainy, or astute: words for describing intelligent people</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/author/patriciaferraz/"> <img alt='1' 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src='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/4e3a803c8f45bbf76eeaa384a0210bd5?s=48&d=identicon&r=g' srcset='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/4e3a803c8f45bbf76eeaa384a0210bd5?s=96&d=identicon&r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-48 photo' height='48' width='48' decoding='async'/> <strong>Paul Heacock</strong></a><ul><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2013/06/12/asadfarewell/" title="A sad farewell">A sad farewell</a></li><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2012/12/18/the-words-of-2012/" title="The words of 2012">The words of 2012</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/author/racheledf/"> <img alt='1' src='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/13391686972a7e5cb25e9c3e7c977088?s=48&d=identicon&r=g' srcset='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/13391686972a7e5cb25e9c3e7c977088?s=96&d=identicon&r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-48 photo' height='48' width='48' decoding='async'/> <strong>racheledf</strong></a><ul><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2012/01/13/what-can-we-learn-from-emails/" title="What can we learn from emails?">What can we learn from emails?</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/author/trevorbryden/"> <img alt='1' src='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/c1bae3f8b5386d3c4e41bef30ba924e8?s=48&d=identicon&r=g' srcset='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/c1bae3f8b5386d3c4e41bef30ba924e8?s=96&d=identicon&r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-48 photo' height='48' width='48' decoding='async'/> <strong>Trevor Bryden</strong></a><ul><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2012/04/17/mind-your-ps-and-qs/" title="Mind your p’s and q’s">Mind your p’s and q’s</a></li><li><a href="https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2012/02/27/what-makes-a-litter/" title="What makes a litter?">What makes a litter?</a></li></ul></li></ul></aside><aside id="twitter_timeline-3" class="widget widget_twitter_timeline"><h1 class="widget-title">Latest tweets</h1><a 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