Curiosity killed the cat
People should mind their own business. This expression apparently first appeared in print in an O. Henry story in the early 1900s.
Words Nearby Curiosity killed the cat
- Curie's law
- Curie-Weiss law
- curio
- curiosa
- curiosity
- Curiosity killed the cat
- curious
- curite
- Curitiba
- curium
- curl
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Other Idioms and Phrases with Curiosity killed the cat
It's best to mind one's own business. For example, Don't ask about his divorce—curiosity killed the cat. This cautionary expression sounds like the moral of some fable or folktale, but any such origin for it has been lost. The first recorded use was in O. Henry's Schools and Schools (1909).
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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