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And Then There Were None Metaphors

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In the 1930s, a slang version rendered the saying as "Mind your own beeswax". It is meant to soften the force of the retort.[2] Folk etymology has it that this idiom was used in the colonial period when women would sit by the fireplace making wax candles together,[3] though there are many other theories.[4]

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.[5] Russell's short story was subsequently incorporated into his 1962 novel The Great Explosion.

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