Busybody

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other uses, see Busybody (disambiguation).
"Meddler" and "Meddling" redirect here. For other uses, see Meddler (disambiguation). For meddling in internal affairs of other countries, see Interventionism (politics).
Look up busybody in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
A busybody caricatured by Isaac Taylor in the 19th century to illustrate the character sketch by Theophrastus

A busybody, meddler, nosey parker, or marplot is someone who meddles in the affairs of others.

An early study of the type was made by the ancient Greek philosopher Theophrastus in his typology, Characters, "In the proffered services of the busybody there is much of the affectation of kind-heartedness, and little efficient aid."[1][2][3][4]

Susanna Centlivre wrote a successful play, The Busie Body, which was first performed in 1709 and has been revived repeatedly since. It is a farce in which Marplot interferes in the romantic affairs of his friends and, despite being well-meaning, frustrates them. The characterisation of Marplot as a busybody whose "chief pleasure is knowing everybody's business" was so popular that he appeared as the title character in a sequel, Marplot. The name is a pun — mar / plot — and passed into the language as an eponym or personification of this type.[5][6]

English law

In

Lord Denning ruled that "The court will not listen to a busybody who is interfering in things which do not concern him..."[7][8] Similarly, there is a long-standing rule that a person must have an insurable interest in a property or person that they wish to insure.[9] The "officious bystander" is a metaphorical character in English law, used to determine the implied terms
of a contract.

Bible

In the Bible, the word "busybody" is used by

Strong's number for this is G4021.[11]

And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not.

— 1 Timothy 5:13

References

  1. ^ Theophrastus translated by Isaac Taylor (1831), The Characters of Theophrastus
  2. JSTOR 27638379
  3. ISBN 9781585583133
  4. ISBN 9789042015524
  5. ^ John O'Brien (2001), "Busy Bodies: The plots of Susanna Centlivre", Eighteenth-Century Genre and Culture, University of Delaware Press, pp. 165–189
  6. ISBN 9781438108698
  7. ISBN 9788175347984
  8. ISBN 9780406176042
  9. JSTOR 20455799
  10. ISBN 9783110215649
  11. ^ "Strong's G4021 (Blue Letter Bible)", Blue Letter Bible

External links

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