none of your beeswax

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English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Alteration of none of your business.[1] From the historical use of beeswax to cover up blemishes.

Pronunciation

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  • Audio (US):(file)

Phrase

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none of your beeswax

  1. A riposte to badgering questioning, expressing a refusal to answer, and an insistence that the questioner cease prying any further.
    • 1950, Beverly Cleary, Henry Huggins, page 21:
      “Whatcha got in that bag?” asked Scooter.
      None of your beeswax,” answered Henry.
    • 1977, Albert Ramsdell Gurney, Children, page 25:
      BARBARA. That’s for me to know.
      RANDY. Come on. Who?
      BARBARA. None of your beeswax.
    • 1996, Stephen King, The Green Mile, page 74:
      “You can ask, but since it's really none of your beeswax, I think I'll keep my mouth shut on that score.”
    • 2003, Augusten Burroughs, Running With Scissors: A Memoir, page 194:
      “We were just discussing your love life. Or lack thereof.”
      “My love life is none of your beeswax,” she huffed.

Translations

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Palmatier, Robert Allen (1995) Speaking of Animals: A Dictionary of Animal Metaphors, Greenwood Press, →ISBN, page p.23