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Glite Dictionary
each other's business

each other's business

2 5.5
Private things about people that other people do not need to know
  • idiom
translation icon : asuntos de los demás
  • Friends don't fuck with each other's business.
  • know each other's business
  • get into each other's business

Examples

  • We're way into each other's business these days.

    Blog text (8)

  • And everyone's interested in each other's business, I guess.

    Academic text (2005)

  • In short, they are cannibalizing each other's business models.

    Blog text (27)

  • "We now know all each other's business; it's like the feudal village where everyone knew what everyone else was doing.

    Blog text (21)

  • I hate the thought of gossip and minding each other's business.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • Everyone was always in each other's business and people were just really, really petty and loved to like be unnecessarily rude.

  • 37 Pembans were rural citizens, and as in small towns everywhere, people knew each other's business.

    Academic text (2006)

  • Didn’t we agree not to butt into each other's business?

    Body So Fluorescent (2020)

  • In small communities, everyone tends to know each other's business and shares personal information.

  • It's best to keep out of each other's business to avoid unnecessary conflicts.

Synonyms

personal matters
vseach other's business
32 2.8

Private things about someone's life, like family or health issues

is about private concerns involving several people that others may consider
personal business
vseach other's business
16 2.8

Private matters that concern only you

is about private concerns shared among people, often discussed by others
affairs
vseach other's business
1 3.0

Personal or private matters like money, papers and responsibilities

is focused on private concerns among group members, often observed by others

Surface Forms

each other's business singular
each other's businesses plural

Morphology

each + other + business

The meaning 'private affairs' is directly derivable from the possessive composition 'each other's' (reciprocal possession) + 'business' (matters/affairs), so the whole phrase literally means 'the matters that belong to one another'. This is a straightforward, compositional possessive pattern that is cross-linguistically common and follows standard English grammar, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will understand it.

Etymology

Each other's business comes from the image of neighbours talking about what other people do, like their family, money, or plans. The parts each other, meaning people in a group, and business, meaning personal matters, give the idea, so it now means 'private matters' you should not get involved in.