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ESL forum >
Ask for help > Proverb
Proverb
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Yolandaprieto
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Proverb
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Do you know any other proverb meaning "mind your own business" apart from "let the cobbler stick to his last"?
Thanks in advance
Yolanda |
9 Dec 2010
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youness
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You lost a sheep that you made a wolf its guardian, didn �t you know that the wolf is a thief? |
9 Dec 2010
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swissprof
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A wigwam for a goose �s bridle is a phrase, once popular in Australia, meaning "none of your business". A common usage is in response to an inquiry such as Q. "What are you making?", A. "A wigwam for a goose �s bridle".[1] The rejoinder was a code for "Mind your own business" and children acquired this pragmatic knowledge after repeated discourse with their parents ended with this response.[2] It was a common family saying.[3]
The phrase was also in use in New Zealand[4] and more generally by English speakers, for example in an 1836 magazine article referring to Calcutta and an exchange with a sailor.[5]
Originally, the phrase was "a whim-wham for a goose�s bridle", with "whim-wham" a word meaning "a fanciful or fantastic object". The phrase was deliberately absurd as a goose would never wear a bridle. Folk etymology converted the word "whim-wham"�a word that was no longer much used�to "wigwam", an Ojibwa word for a domed single-room dwelling used by Native Americans. This change retained the phrase �s absurd meaning and sense.[6]
The phrase is believed to be less popular than it once was.[7] |
9 Dec 2010
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Jayho
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Hi Yolanda
I haven�t heard of the above two but one that immediately comes to mind is related to the nose (and there�s numerous forms of it)
keep your nose out of it
don�t stick your nose into it
There�s also mind your own beeswax but it is not as common as the nose ones.
Cheers
Jayho
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9 Dec 2010
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Zora
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How about "let sleeping dogs lie..." ?
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9 Dec 2010
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GIOVANNI
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What about � �Don �t make use of another �s mouth unless it has been leant to you. � � |
9 Dec 2010
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Homeless Turtle
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My personal favorite:
"Get your straw out of my kool aid"
My older sister used to tell me that when we were growing up. It �s usually only used in the southern U.S. But I like it so much, I �m sharing it with the world. Feel free to abuse it with reckless abandon! |
10 Dec 2010
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dturner
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We would simply say, "Mind your own bees wax." I am not sure the origin of this one, but my feeling is that it is simply based on �business � and may sound more polite.
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10 Dec 2010
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SueThom
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My contribution to this is "to make meddlers ask questions". This was not an uncommon response when I was growing up and would ask my mother or grandmother why they were doing something (or even just "why?").
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10 Dec 2010
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colibrita
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Gosh Yolanda, I �ve never heard that cobbler one! Is it really a proverb you �re looking for or just another expression? If so, a lot of people say "don �t poke your nose where it doesn �t belong" but it �s kind of brusque. "Mind your own beeswax" is a nice soft way of telling somebody not to pry or meddle.
HTH
Colibrita
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10 Dec 2010
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