Mind your own business

"Mind your own business" is a common English saying which asks for a respect of other people's privacy. It suggests that a person should stop interfering in what does not affect themselves. Contextually, it is often used in an argument or dispute as a remark to refute, reject, disregard, or discourage others' concerns or comments. Its acronym is MYOB.

Origin[]

Most modern theologians do not believe that the phrase "Mind your own business" is of direct biblical derivation,^{[citation needed]} though something similar appears in the bible where St. Paul tells the church of Thessaloniki about this manner of living in his instructions as a way of Christian life (I Thessalonians 4:11). The Greek phrase is πράσσειν τὰ ἴδια, which translates as "manage yourself".^[1]

The first of coins, minted by the United States under The Coinage Act of 1792, display the words “Mind Your Business” on one side.

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.^[2] Folk etymology has it that this idiom was used in the colonial period when women would sit by the fireplace making wax candles together,^[3] though there are many other theories.^[4]

In the classic science fiction story "...And Then There Were None", author 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.^[5] Russell's short story was subsequently incorporated into his 1962 novel The Great Explosion.

See also[]

• A wigwam for a goose's bridle
• Bodily integrity
• Fugio cent, a coin designed by Benjamin Franklin that bears the motto "Mind your business"
• Personal boundaries

References[]

External links[]

• Theidioms.com, Origins of common sayings - Mind Your Own Beeswax
• Abelard.org, And Then There Were None (relevant excerpt of The Great Explosion)