Ps & Qs

"Face"

In the late 1700s, personal hygiene left much
room for improvement. As a result, many
women and men had developed acne scars
by adulthood. The women would spread bee's
wax over their facial skin to smooth out their
complexions. When they were speaking to
each other, if a woman began to stare at another
woman's face she was told "mind your own
bee's wax."

Should the woman smile, the wax would
crack, hence the term "crack a smile." Also,
when they sat too close to the fire, the wax
would melt and therefore the expression
"losing face."

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"Ps & Qs"

At local taverns, pubs and bars, people drank
from pint and quart sized containers. A bar
maid's job was to keep an eye on the customers
and keep the drinks coming. She had to pay
close attention and remember who was drinking
in "pints" and who was drinking in "quarts."

Hence the term "minding your "Ps and Qs."

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"Coins"

Did you ever wonder why dimes, quarters
and half dollars have notches, while pennies
and nickels do not?

The US Mint began putting notches on the
edges of coins containing gold and silver to
discourage holders from shaving off small
quantities of the precious metals. Dimes,
quarters and half dollars are notched because
they used to contain silver. Pennies and nickels
aren't notched because the metals they
contain are not valuable enough to shave.
Received on Sat Jan 28 00:19:39 2006