Childish answer, but how rude is it?

[Last_Dance]

Whenever I read a story about the various Mr and Miss Buttinski, well, butting in where they are neither invited nor wanted just to be rude or cruel, somehow I'm reminded of my elementary school.
 
When a classmate started badgering you, we used to say "[classmate's name], my grandpa live to a hundred years, do you know how? He minded his own business"
Of course, we didn't actually mean it as a threat - to be honest, I'm not entirely sure we grasped the implications, it just sounded witty to us. 

Anyway, on a scale from 0 to 10, how rude do think it is?

[Sharnita]

It reminds me of "snitches get stitches" - which is to say I find it rude and alarming. It really goes beyond rude to me.

[Piratelvr1121]

Yeah it sounds beyond rude, like a threat, even if you didn't mean it that way.

Though it does remind me of "The Music Man."

Harold Hill: Say, what do you do for fun around here?
Townsperson: Mind our business.

[bansidhe]

Depends on the audience. If it's a close friend or family member who knows that you're joking, go for it. With anyone else it's likely to come across as pretty hostile.

[WillyNilly]

What am I missing?  How is is this hostile?  What are the implications of this phrase? (If its just that nosy people end up getting killed, that's a rather far stretch IMO... The reality is people who do mind their business - as in mind their health, mind their finances, mind their lifestyle - do tend to live longer.)

So I don't think its rude. I think it is childish and silly, but if it were kids saying it, well children are supposed to be childish.

[Sharnita]

That is implication, yes. And there are places and people where it is backed up with action.

[sweetonsno]

Yikes. I'd say that threats are generally quite rude. (Assuming that you don't have a special relationship with the particular person in question that allows for that type of joking around.)

Even without the threat, I think the phrase "mind your own business" is pretty hostile and rude. I would consider it an escalation, to be used only after "I prefer not to discuss that" or "That's personal" have failed to illicit an appropriate reaction.

[WillyNilly]

That is implication, yes. And there are places and people where it is backed up with action.

There are places where all sorts of atrocities take place, but that hardly means they are commonplace.  I doubt its very often or common for the average busybody to be killed for sticking their nose in. That's like being afraid to leave the house because a meteor might fall on you.

[bah12]

Well, if the implication is that you (the general person making the statement) will hurt/kill the person that is butting in, then it's rude.  Because it is a threat and threats are rude. 

That being said, if someone said that to me, I wouldn't feel threatened and wouldn't take it as a threat.  While it's childish, I would get the point that I need to mind my own business.  I think statements like this are a know your audience thing.  And since we can't be certain of how everyone might take it, I think that a better stock phrase should be considered.

[Sharnita]

WillyNilly, you probanly aren't spending a lot of time around murder victims or their familes, especially those in the inner city. A lot of times even when something happens in public it is hard to find witnesses because they are afraid of the consequences to them and their families. And that does happen with alarming frequency. If you haven't noticed because it never happened to you or yours then you are blessed. Comparing it to a meteor just seems disresoectful to the many people who do face that reality.

[gollymolly2]

WillyNilly, you probanly aren't spending a lot of time around murder victims or their familes, especially those in the inner city. A lot of times even when something happens in public it is hard to find witnesses because they are afraid of the consequences to them and their families. And that does happen with alarming frequency. If you haven't noticed because it never happened to you or yours then you are blessed. Comparing it to a meteor just seems disresoectful to the many people who do face that reality.

But I think this "threat" only carries that weight in those few random communities. Yes, someone shouldn't go to south Chicago and use a menacing tone to threaten someone with violence.  Obviously. But the fact that there is terrible violence in some places doesn't mean that people who live in typical communities can't jokingly threaten someone.

Whether the particular quote in the OP is rude would depend on circumstances, but assuming that in most cases it would be taken as a joke, I think it wouldn't be impolite. Using humor is a good way of diffusing situations or addressing rudeness. A death threat is a joke MOST places.

[Sharnita]

I think you overestimate how many people atw comfortable with death threats, let alone see "gooduse" in having a death threat as.a punch line. I get a kid not really hiting on what the answer implies. I don't get an adult advocating for the value of a death threat as a good joke.

[WillyNilly]

I think you overestimate how many people atw comfortable with death threats, let alone see "gooduse" in having a death threat as.a punch line. I get a kid not really hiting on what the answer implies. I don't get an adult advocating for the value of a death threat as a good joke.

I think the point is, most people wouldn't take it as an actual death threat.

I think most people would either not get it as a threat at all, or just think it was a goofy thing, much like the "death threat" of saying "I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you". That is an overt message straight up mentioning killing but the vast majority of people who hear that comment take it as its meant: lightheartedly.

[rose red]

I can see kids thinking it's a cool phrase, especially if all the classmates use it (probably don't even know what it means).  I can also see an adult saying it jokingly to their friends/family.  Who hasn't said or heard something similar like "You lost the dog?!  I'm gonna kill you!" but you know it doesn't mean literally.

[Yvaine]

It took me a minute to even process it into a threat--my first thought was that it implied being a busybody was bad karma and you'd just shorten your own life by being unpleasant!