Mind Your Cliche Use

He had no idea what he had just said.

In our morning meeting, our manager was trying to keep us on our best behavior. He told us, "Mind your Ps and Qs." Then, in typical fashion, he stopped and said, "What does that even mean, anyway?"

Of course, I was the one to respond. Now, you can know, too.

"One origin story of 'mind your Ps and Qs' comes from English pubs and taverns of the seventeenth century. Bartenders would keep a watch on the alcohol consumption of the patrons; keeping an eye on the pints and quarts that were consumed. As a reminder to the patrons, the bartender would recommend they 'mind their Ps and Qs'. This may also have been a reminder to bartenders not to confuse the two units, written as 'p' and 'p' on the tally slate.

"A second origin story comes from early printing presses. Printers placed individual letters on a typeset to print a page of text. The letters were reversed, making it easy to mistake lowercase p's and q's in setting the type. A reminder to stay watchful of the details could have come from this time as well. In a similar setting, this expression has been attributed as an adage for teaching children to spell."

Thank you, Wikipedia. Once again, you've made me look smart.