Conversation:

There is a book "Slanguage - a dictionary of Irish slang" by Bernard Share, published in 1997 by Gill & Macmillan, Dublin. Comprehensive and intriguing. The bee's knees in fact.

http://www.yaelf.com/aueFAQ/mifbeesknees.shtml - surely only the last theory is right: corruption of "business".

I would think so - I had a teacher once who thought that "mind your p's and q's" came from the separation of Celtic tribes into P-Celts and Q-Celts.

Eh. I don't think so.

Teachers are shameless. A Latin teacher told us that a pineapple was so called because it tasted "almost" like an apple. Load of cobblers, but I still remember the Latin for "almost": paene.

Watching your p's and q's is said to have originated in England.

In the tavern, ale and beer was measured in pints and quarts.
A quart is two pints.

Every time a server drew a drink, he'd chalk a number under the pints
or quarts.

If the barman was listening to or interrupting a conversation where the speakers wanted privacy, they would say, "Watch your p's and q's."

Nice story.

I thought it was short for 'pleases and thankyous'.

Hi There,

Just to let you know there's a great slang reference at http://www.slang.ie

It details slang from across the 32 counties of Ireland.

Happy slanging!

S.