Mind your own business
"Mind your own business" is a common English saying which asks for a respect of other people's privacy. It can mean that a person should stop meddling in what does not concern that person, attend personal affairs of others instead of your own, etc.
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[edit] Origin
Few modern theologians believe that the phrase "Mind your own business" is a biblical derivation. St.Paul mentions to the church of Thessnolika about this manner of living in his instructions as a way of Christian life (I Thessalonians 4:11)
[edit] 20th century
In the 1930s, a slang version rendered the saying as "Mind your own beeswax". It is meant to soften the force of the retort.[1] Folk etymology has it that this idiom was used in the colonial period when women would sit by the fireplace making wax candles together,[2] though there are many other theories.[3]
In the classic science fiction story ...And Then There Were None, Eric Frank Russell shortened "Mind Your Own Business" to "MYOB" or "Myob!", which was used as a form of civil disobedience on the planet of the libertarian Gands.[4] Russell's short story, ...And Then There Were None, was subsequently incorporated into his 1962 novel The Great Explosion. It is possible that Russell is the inventor of this initialism, which is now used widely throughout the United States.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Palmatier, Robert Allen (1995). Speaking of Animals: A Dictionary of Animal Metaphors. Greenwood Press. pp. Google Books Search, p.23. ISBN 0313294909.
- ^ Idiomsite.com, Beeswax
- ^ Worldwidewords.org
- ^ Abelard.org
[edit] External links
- Idiomsite.com, Origins of common sayings - Beeswax
- Abelard.org, And Then There Were None (relevant excerpt of The Great Explosion)
