None of your beeswax

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Meaning

None of your concern or business. Informal, playful, and mildly dismissive Regional use: United States, later wider English.

Origin

An American slang substitution in which beeswax humorously stands in for business, helped by their similar sound and initial letter. A 1928 newspaper called it a saying from 1906 but gave no evidence for that date; secure examples appear in 1928 and 1929. Stories claiming that women once filled facial scars with beeswax have no evidentiary connection to the phrase.

Variants

  • It's none of your beeswax
  • mind your own beeswax
  • that's not your beeswax

Usage Examples

  • Who left the parcel on my desk is none of your beeswax.
  • Mara smiled and told the nosy neighbour to mind his own beeswax.

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