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#21
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IMS, the p's and q's is about how the letters are similar, but reversed, so someone learning to write might mix them uq.
ETA: From M-W: Quote:
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#22
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I find that fascinating. I have not put any thought into the actual meaning, but to me it was always a variance on "mind your please and thank you".
Something a parent would say to a child. I am much wiser today. Thank you. |
#23
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I was going to say, I'm sure there was a snopes page about this very saying, and there is (sometimes when I'm sure about pages I've seen in the past, I'm either wrong, or the page has disappeared for some reason):
https://www.snopes.com/language/phrases/pqs.asp Quote:
Sadly, there is no accepted theory for where that saying came from, but as I understand it one of the more likely ones is to do with printing, and the fact that "p" and "q" each look like the other when reversed and so were difficult for printers, in the days of typesetting by hand, to distinguish. (This is also mentioned on the page above - it's not definite either, but it seems from other things I've read to be more likely than the others. Also pretty much what GenYus said.) (eta) In practice I speculate that it's probably a mixture of the difficulty of distinguishing "p's and q's" (in the handwriting sense rather than printing) and what UEL said - and this also matches the sense in which it's used, to tell people to behave; it works as an admonishment to children in both senses - handwriting, and "mind your manners", and it's a pune or play on wordes that people would remember. Last edited by Richard W; 01 November 2017 at 09:56 PM. |
#24
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"She's ugly enough to make a freight train take a dirt road." I don't know why--it doesn't even make sense--but the first time I heard that it struck me as so funny I literally fell down laughing.
No, my UNCLE was drinking. I never touch a drop. |
#25
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That is a good line.
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#26
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Are you sure it wasn't the piano?
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#27
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What is it with trains and ugly people? ![]() |
#28
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Trains have different ideas of beauty than do people who make jokes about other people being ugly. The trains are so awestruck by the beauty of the people being joked about that they stop in the hope that these beautiful people will board them.
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#29
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Trains run on very fixed schedules and don't make unplanned stops and are very massive, so making one stop or divert is a huge deal. Making a car or truck stop isn't so big as they do it themselves dozens or hundreds of times in a trip. A train makes one stop per leg of a journey.
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#30
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There was I saying that I remember some kids use to say when I was in middle school back in the early 00s. They use to say "this is an A B conversation, so C your way out." I don't know when people started saying this. But from what I can remember, most people that said it, said it in a joking manner.
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#31
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I have it on good authority from multiple people that it used to be possible to flag the train down along the tracks and get on it or load one's produce on it.
Admittedly, they were talking about the first part of the 20th century. It hasn't been possible for some time. And even then, it was most likely only possible with some trains in some locations. |
#32
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#33
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Since I'm not sure what pun you mean, I'm going to have to go with no.
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#34
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I actually can't remember what I thought was the pun so I don't know what I meant. And I hadn't been drinking either.
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#35
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I can't divert a train, but I did derail the thread. Sorry!
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#36
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#37
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Why do we say "That's nothing to sneeze at"? Do people sneeze at things they think are insignificant?
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#38
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#39
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