Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1918-06-07
OF SIMPLE ORIGIN
Interesting to Trace Source of
Familiar Expressions.
"Mind Your P's and Q's" Said TO Have
First Come Into Use in a London
Taproon-"Humbug" First to
Come From Ireland.

1t Is, I think, generally supposed
that the expression mind your MS
and as" originated in a schoolroom
and was teachers warning TO pupils
that the two letters, when not cap
itallzed, were very similar in con-
struction, says a writer in the Men,
phis Commercial-Appeal. There is,
however, authority for the statement
that the place of origin was very far
from being a schoolhouse, and was, in
fact, an ancient London taproom,
whose proprietor, on giving credit for
ale TO customers, chalked their in
debtedness on the wall in the form of
p's for plnts and q's for quarts, and
was in the habit of bidding such debt
Ors to 'mind" them.
The expression "sub rosa" (under
the rose), implying secrecy, is said to
have originated from an incident dat
ing back as far as the year AT b. c.
AT that time Pausanias commander
in chief of the confederated fleet of
the Spartans and Athenians, was en-
gagged in an intrigue with Xerxes for
the subjugation of Greece to the Per-
sian rule, and for the hand of the mon
arch's daughter in marriage. The Sc
cret negotiations were carried on
under an overhanging bower of roses.
The perfidy of Pausanias was discov-
cred, but, whether in defiance of his
fate or not, it became custom among
the Athenians to wear roses in their
hair whenever imparting a secret they
wished kept inviolate, hence the say
ing "sub rosa" among them, and,
since, among Christian nations.
The word "dun" as used in the
phrase Cumming a man" is commonly
thought to be derived from the French
"donneZ," but, according to an Eng
llsh publication, bearing date of 1700,
IT owes its origin to one Joe Dun, a
famous bailiff of Lincoln in the time
of Henry VII The bailiff is said to
have been so dexterous in the man.
agement of his rough business, and
so successful in the collection of dues,
that his name became prOverbial, and
whenever a man refused to pay his
debt 1t became customary to say to
his creditors: "Why don't you Dun
him?"
To find the origin Of the word
'humbug" we are invited to Ireland
In the days of James III. That mon
arch is said to have caused to be
made at the mint in Dublin a coin
out of anything obtainable, such as
lead, pewter, copper, brass, and so
low was its intrinsic value that 20
shillings of 1t was worth only two
pence sterling. The soft metal of
which the coin was composed became
known among the Irish as "Uim bog"
pronounced "Oom bog" /. e., soft cop
per, /. e., worthless money, and in the
course of their dealings the modern
use of the word "humbug" took its
rise, as in the phrases: "That's
piece of 'uim bog Don't think to
pass off your uim bog on me-" etc.
Looking for an explanation of how
the expression "A feather in ones
cap" originated you may find in
the Lansdowne manuscript, British
museum, a Description of Hungary
in 1900" in which the writer says of
the inhabitants: at hath ben antient
custom none may wear fether save
onlie he who slew a Turk, to whom
onlie it is lawful to shew We number
of his Slaine enemys by We number OF
fethers in his cappe."