Childish answer, but how rude is it?

[MrTango]

I didn't think threat either.  I figured it was a message about how minding your own business and not burdening yourself with worry about others' business would allow a person to live longer.

[Allyson]

It just seems goofy to me, along the lines of 'I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you' like another poster said. I don't get 'snitching' type implications here, because that's a very different situation than straight-up nosiness.

There *are* people who are very sensitive about any sort of threat, no matter how joking, so it might be better to make sure the person you're saying it to isn't of that mindset. But really, it's so ridiculous as to not push any of my 'eek' buttons.

[LifeOnPluto]

I think it's childish - on a par with "Dobbers wear nappies!". Personally, I wouldn't use it on anyone other than a close friend or family member.

[squeakers]

"Loose lips sink ships" .. is what I thought of when reading the OP.

[MerryCat]

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!

This is pretty much how I read it too, until other posters spelled it out to me. But again, I don't think it's that much more threatening than the aforementioned "I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you," response.

[stargazer]

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!

This is pretty much how I read it too, until other posters spelled it out to me. But again, I don't think it's that much more threatening than the aforementioned "I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you," response.

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!

This is pretty much how I read it too, until other posters spelled it out to me. But again, I don't think it's that much more threatening than the aforementioned "I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you," response.

It's how I took it too.  I really think calling it a "death threat" is seriously over-reacting especially when it's said by elementary school children which is what the OP brought up.

[Daydream]

I'm not familiar with this phrase and therefore don't associate it with elementary school children, so if I heard someone say it, it wouldn't strike me as being childish.  It actually sounds to me like something an adult would say to a child to teach them to not be nosy. 

Like some others have said, until you mentioned the threat aspect, I didn't get that intent. I just thought it meant "good people live longer."   

If it was said in a lighthearted manner to someone you're close to, I wouldn't consider it rude.  And, if you said it to your great-aunt Mary who keeps hounding you about when are you going to have kids or lose weight, etc., I don't think she'd think you were threatening to kill her if she didn't shut up.

When I was a kid, we used to say "mind your own beeswax."  I just looked it up and saw that this phrase started in the 1930s, which surprised me because I thought we were being very original in the 80s.   

[Dalek]

As a wise man born in a high crime area once said

"You better watch how you're talking
And where you're walking"


However, I didn't see the threat in the OP's comment. 

[jmarvellous]

I think it's childish - on a par with "Dobbers wear nappies!". Personally, I wouldn't use it on anyone other than a close friend or family member.

English to English translator in the house? I know "nappy" but not "dobber."


I think this phrase is just saying, "Be smart and you'll live long and well," not "Be smart or I'll kill you." It is snotty and therefore seems a touch rude, but I do not read it as a serious threat or gross rudeness.

[RingTailedLemur]

I think it's childish - on a par with "Dobbers wear nappies!". Personally, I wouldn't use it on anyone other than a close friend or family member.

English to English translator in the house? I know "nappy" but not "dobber."


I think this phrase is just saying, "Be smart and you'll live long and well," not "Be smart or I'll kill you." It is snotty and therefore seems a touch rude, but I do not read it as a serious threat or gross rudeness.

A dobber is a snitch or a grass.  They would "dob someone in", ie tattle.

I would be shocked and unamused by the comment in the OP because I don't find that kind of thing polite or funny.

[Winterlight]

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!

This is pretty much how I read it too, until other posters spelled it out to me. But again, I don't think it's that much more threatening than the aforementioned "I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you," response.

Me too.

[Hmmmmm]

I'm not familiar with this phrase and therefore don't associate it with elementary school children, so if I heard someone say it, it wouldn't strike me as being childish.  It actually sounds to me like something an adult would say to a child to teach them to not be nosy. 

Like some others have said, until you mentioned the threat aspect, I didn't get that intent. I just thought it meant "good people live longer."   

If it was said in a lighthearted manner to someone you're close to, I wouldn't consider it rude.  And, if you said it to your great-aunt Mary who keeps hounding you about when are you going to have kids or lose weight, etc., I don't think she'd think you were threatening to kill her if she didn't shut up.

When I was a kid, we used to say "mind your own beeswax."  I just looked it up and saw that this phrase started in the 1930s, which surprised me because I thought we were being very original in the 80s.   

This. I'd never heard it before and had a hard time processing it as any type of physical threat.

[Cami]

I took it along the same lines as I'd take, "I could tell you but I'd have to kill you" -- a jocular way of telling me to mind my own business. It would never occur to me to take it as a threat.

[MariaE]

I took it along the same lines as I'd take, "I could tell you but I'd have to kill you" -- a jocular way of telling me to mind my own business. It would never occur to me to take it as a threat.

Same here.

[Daquiri40]

I don't take it as a threat either. 

Childish but not threatening, "mind your own beeswax".