tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3407624264627208128.post3168027997910464007..comments2024-01-26T21:38:25.924-08:00Comments on Duane's PoeTree: David Norris writesDuanesPoeTreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17053093400086634552noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3407624264627208128.post-23602989083792417962019-06-18T10:29:37.547-07:002019-06-18T10:29:37.547-07:00Since at least 1898 “dawg” has been a facetious sp...Since at least 1898 “dawg” has been a facetious spelling of “dog.” To “dawg out” is to insult someone, perhaps but not necessarily in a joking manner. <br /><br />“Mind your p’s and q’s is to "mind your manners" or "mind your language," to "be on your best behavior,” to "watch what you're doing." The expression 1st appeared in “The Ghost,” a 1763 poem by satirist Charles Churchill in which he referred to the actor Thomas Sheridan, whose “Lectures on Elocution” (1762) sought to eliminate immorality, ignorance, and false taste by promoting proper discourse: “He knows alone, in proper mode, / How to take vengeance on an ode. /… On all occasions next the chair / He stands for service of the Mayor, / And to instruct him how to use / His As and Bs, and Ps and Qs: O’er letters into tatters worn, / O’er syllables defaced and torn, / O’er words disjointed, and o’er sense / Left destitute of all defence / He strides … / Before him every consonant / In agonies is seen to pant; / Behind, in forms not to be known, / The ghosts of tortured vowels groan.” Apparently the phrase refers to cautioning children who are learning how to spell to be careful how they make their letters (although the same warning could be used to distinguish between b’s and d’s, for instance) or for typesetters, since the backward-facing metal type letters would be especially confusing. It may also have referred to pubs’ keeping track of how many Pints and Quarts their customers consumed. <br /><br />In 1993 Harold Ramis directed “Groundhog Day,” a movie about a man who continuously relived the same day; due to its popularity, the expression has become a standard shorthand to describe recurrent unpleasant situations.DuanesPoeTreehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17053093400086634552noreply@blogger.com