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  • Hi this is Tutor Nick P and this is Idioms 263. The name of the idiom today is mind

  • your own beeswax. Okay. Let's take a look at the note here. This idiom is another way

  • of saying mind your own business. This idiom is often considered to be a

  • euphemism. So you know remember a euphemism that's a nicer way of saying something

  • else. So mind your own business beeswax is a nicer way of saying mind

  • your own business. And to be honest that's probably how it

  • formed or at least that's how they think it formed. Because beeswax sounds a lot

  • like business. All right. Let's continue. Because mind your own business is

  • sometimes taken as as rude or offensive. So you have to be careful how you say

  • mind your own business. Sometimes people are like whoa ! Whoa ! You said that to me . You

  • know , so but if you say mind your own beeswax,

  • it adds a little humor to it. It's a little funny. It's not as strong. So

  • that's why sometimes this, this idiom probably formed. It really is used the

  • same way as mind your own business, but it doesn't sound quite as harsh or quite

  • as rude. All right. So let's continue. Just like it

  • says here. It also adds a little humor to the phrase because like beeswax ? Where

  • did beeswax come from ? But it almost makes people laugh in a way. The phrase

  • could be used directly with someone you think is asking questions that you think

  • are too personal or used as a warning not to interfere in someone else's

  • business. Okay. Good. Let's continue. The first known

  • citing of mind your own business ... of mine your own beeswax appears in a 1929

  • children's book. Okay. And was often used with children and by children. So it may

  • have caught on that way. Maybe they didn't want to put the offensive term in

  • the kids book and they changed it to beeswax. And then I think kids started

  • using it or parents started using it with kids. But it stretched beyond that.

  • So I mean adults use it, or especially I think women might use it more. As again

  • you know, trying to be careful not to say the one that somebody might consider to

  • be more offensive or rude. All right. So let's continue. You can also say you ... you

  • can also tell someone none of your business.

  • That's another way of saying mind your own business. All right. It sounds a

  • little bit better than mind your own business but mind your own beeswax again

  • would be the one that would add humor to it. All right. Let's look at number one.

  • Number one is in a/b part. And A says "Are you and your boyfriend intimate yet. ?

  • Remember if you're saying intimate. Yeah, especially if girls ask each other are

  • you intimate yet ? It really means like are you having sex yet ? So maybe, maybe

  • the girl depending upon who asked her, she may say. Yeah. That's that's none of

  • your beeswax. You know, so maybe she doesn't want to tell

  • that yet. All right. Number two. I should just tell

  • that nosy neighbor to mind her own beeswax.

  • Okay. Yeah. We often say that's one of the ones that you might actually say mind

  • your own business, if somebody is really nosy. Remember nosy means they're poking

  • their nose into your business. That's kind of the idea where that came from.

  • All right. And the last one here. It's not polite to ask the personal finances of

  • others. You mean other people. You should mind your own beeswax. So this is another

  • one that's kind of a warning that not to interfere in other people's business or

  • not to not to ask about things that are too personal from other people. So we

  • might tell somebody you know, mind your own beeswax. Don't, don't make people feel

  • uncomfortable by asking questions that, that seemed to be too personal.

  • Okay. Anyway, I hope you got it . I hope it was clear. Thank you for your time. Bye-bye.

Hi this is Tutor Nick P and this is Idioms 263. The name of the idiom today is mind

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