Mind your own business - wikipedia Mind your own business For other uses, see Mind your own business ( disambiguation ). `` 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, etc. Its initialism is MYOB. Contents 1 Origin 2 20th century 3 See also 4 References 5 External links Origin Most modern theologians do not believe that the phrase `` Mind your own business '' is of direct biblical derivation, 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 ''. 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. Folk etymology has it that this idiom was used in the colonial period when women would sit by the fireplace making wax candles together, though there are many other theories. 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. 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 Personal boundaries References Jump up ^ `` 1 Thessalonians 4 : 11 - 12 NIV ''. biblegateway.com. Retrieved 2012 - 03 - 26. Jump up ^ Palmatier, Robert Allen ( 1995 ). Speaking of Animals : A Dictionary of Animal Metaphors. Greenwood Press. pp. Google Books Search, p. 23. ISBN 0 - 313 - 29490 - 9. Jump up ^ Idiomsite.com, Beeswax Jump up ^ Worldwidewords.org Jump up ^ Abelard.org External links Idiomsite.com, Origins of common sayings - Beeswax Abelard.org, And Then There Were None ( relevant excerpt of The Great Explosion ) Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mind_your_own_business&oldid=780081752 '' Categories : English phrases Clichés Hidden categories : All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from March 2012 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Deutsch ไทย Edit links This page was last edited on 12 May 2017, at 21 : 06. About Wikipedia

Question: where did mind your own beeswax come from
Answer: In the 1930s, a slang version rendered the saying as "Mind your own beeswax"