Well, sometime ago chefmike challenged everyone to a definition on the origins of the term "minding your P's and Q's"
Since no one came up with an answer (maybe the question got lost in all the other interesting postings?) I decided to give two versions;
Cheffie told me one of them, and yesterday the Kona paper, "West Hawaii Today" had an interesting little item about just this question in the Ann Landers column:
"All my life I was told to "mind my p's and q's". I knew it meant I should behave myself and watch my language and manners. However, I have no idea where this phrase originated and why we use it. What exactly is a "p" and a "q", and why must we mind them?- Ramona in Florida
Ann's answer: My language expert, Alden Wood, a professor at Simmons College in Boston, said the phrase probably originated when teaching children to write. The lower-case letters "p" and "q" are quite similar in appearance. Another possibility is that it started in an English pub. The bartender would keep a running tab on a chalkboard, writing "p" for pint and "q" for quart. He needed to "mind his p's and q's" so that he didn't overcharge his customers."
Cheffie had a close version of this second possibility. Either one sounds plausible to me!