Episode 130 • Being Curious
Pry
Be a Curious George
Keep something from someone
Do you mind?!
Nonya? Nonyabusiness!
Story
[Texting]
Sam: Whatcha doing…?
Kris: What? Nothing.
Sam: What do you mean? You’re texting someone… I don’t mean to pry but… who are you texting?
Kris: What do you care? I’m texting someone.
Sam: Yeah, okay, but who?
Kris: Just a friend.
Sam: Do I know them?
Kris: Uhm, no…
Sam: What’s their name?
Kris: Stop asking me all these questions! You’re making me uncomfortable!
Sam: Oh come on! I just want to know who it is. Don’t you think your big sister should know?
Kris: Well, aren’t you a Curious George?!
Sam: Oh, please! This is driving me crazy. You’ve never kept anything from me! Just tell me the first letter of his name.
Kris: I’m not telling you anything!
[Texting]
[Phone rings]
Kris: Hey! No, I’m in my room. My sister’s here and she won’t leave! Sam, do you mind?! Can you leave me alone for five minutes?!
Sam: Fine. Just tell me his name and I’ll leave!
Kris: You want to know his name?!
Sam: Yes! What’s his name?
Kris: Nonya!
Sam: Nonya?
Kris: Yeah, nonyabusiness!
Sam: Ugh! Fine. Fine. I’m leaving.
Questions
Okay, that was a super long story, I'm aware. It's probably one of the longest that I've written, but I don't know, I just had so many things that I wanted to add to that story.
Pry
'I don’t mean to pry but… are you texting someone?'
• If you’re prying, does that mean you want to share some private information with someone or that you want to get some private information from someone?
If you're prying or trying to pry, what you're doing is you're trying to get some private information from someone else. You're trying to get them to tell you something that you want to know.
• And if you say that someone’s prying, does that mean that you’re trying to get information that concerns you or not?
No, usually when you're prying, you're trying to get information that concerns the other person, so it's personal information that has to do with the other person and you just want it because you're curious, and you want to get that information.
• Why would you say “I don’t mean to pry” or “I don’t want to pry”, before starting asking questions?
This is really funny. Usually, when you want to ask an uncomfortable question, or I would say a very personal question to someone else, you can start off by saying, "I don't mean to pry." Then you ask that very personal question. What you're saying is that I'm not trying to be nosy. I'm not trying to be rude, but I just want to know this thing. I've always found it very ironic because the moment you say, "I don't mean to pry," really, what you're saying is, "Okay, I'm prying. I want to get in your business, and I want to know more about you and I don't care if you like it or not." Usually, if you are about to ask a very personal question, you don't know how the other person's going to take it, you might want to preface the question by saying, "I don't mean to pry," and then you ask the question. It's at least considered somewhat polite to do that instead of asking someone directly, "Oh, have you and your boyfriend broken up?" You would be like, "Hey, I don't mean to pry, but are you guys still together?" That somehow, I guess makes the question sound a little less rude.
• Do you think it’s a good idea to use this expression before asking personal questions?
Like I said, people do it all the time, and I think it is seen as somewhat polite to introduce such a personal question with this expression. Personally, I don't like to say it. If I have to ask a personal question, I'm super curious and I'm super nosy, I will ask a lot of very, very personal questions. You know what, I share everything about my life with people. I don't think I really keep anything to myself. I like when people open up and I like when people share their stuff with me. I like having very deep, very honest conversations, and so I feel a bit like a hypocrite if I start off by saying, "Hey, I don't mean to pry, but blah, blah, blah," because really, I want to pry, I want to find out more. It's because I'm nosy and it's because I like having these open conversations. I never start off by saying that, but again, if you are someone that cares a little bit more about what people think about you, and you don't want people to think that you're rude, yes, if you do absolutely want to ask personal questions, it's a good idea to say, "Hey, I don't mean to pry," and then ask the question.
Be a Curious George
'Well, aren’t you a Curious George?!'
• If you say that someone is a Curious George, does that mean you think they’re too curious or not enough?
If you call someone a Curious George, you think that they are really, really curious. By curious, I mean nosy.
• Who is Curious George?
Curious George is a cartoon character, it's a monkey. To be honest with you, I'm not entirely sure what he does, I just know that he's got a friend that's like a ranger or an explorer or something along those lines, I think, if I remember correctly. It's just a monkey and monkeys are known for being curious. The name of this monkey is George. That's why he's called Curious George, and that's where the expression comes from.
• Would you consider yourself a Curious George?
Absolutely. I like to know everything about the people that surround me. I don't know. There's just something about knowing about what a person's life is like that I find so interesting. I'm always asking questions, and if I'm not asking questions to you directly, I'm asking other people questions about another person. I am definitely a Curious George.
Keep something from someone
'You’ve never kept anything from me!'
• If you keep something from someone, do you tell them or not?
No. If you keep something from someone, that means that you're not telling them.
• If you keep something from someone, do you not share that information on purpose or because you forgot?
No, you didn't forget anything. If you're keeping something from someone, that means that you're not sharing that information on purpose. You know what you're doing, you don't want this person to find out, so you make this very conscious decision of keeping this thing from them, of hiding this thing from them.
• Do you think that keeping something from someone is just as bad as lying?
All right, my heart wants to say no, but I think it's because although I don't lie as much anymore, I do from time to time keep something from someone. I may not be totally open about certain things just because I don't want them to get mad or I don't know. Well, you know why you would keep something from someone. In reality, I think it is pretty bad. In a way, you're still not being honest, so maybe it is just as bad as lying. I don't know. I don't know. What do you guys think?
Do you mind?!
'My sister’s here and she won’t leave! Sam, do you mind?!'
• In this case is the “Do you mind?!” used to ask a favor or to ask for privacy?
In this case, the "do you mind" is used to ask for privacy. This girl wants to be by herself, she doesn't want her sister around, so she's going to say, "Do you mind?" It's also something that you can say if someone is trying to read your texts or trying to read what you're writing in your diary or something, you might look at them and be like, "Do you mind? Can you not look at my stuff? Just mind your own business."
• If you use “Do you mind?!” this way, what tone will you use? Will you sound nice and polite or slightly irritated?
You will definitely sound slightly irritated. Obviously, you are frustrated. You want privacy. This person's trying to get in your business and you don't like it, so you're going to look irritated. You're going to show them with your eyes or with your tone that you're irritated and they're going to know what they need to do.
• Have you ever wanted to tell someone “Do you mind?!” because you wanted some privacy?
Yes, lots of times actually. I think the "do you mind" can come off as a little bit rude. I will usually say, "Hey, can I just be by myself?" or "I would rather do this alone," but whatever works for you. Sometimes you need privacy and you got to ask for it whichever way you feel comfortable.
Nonya? Nonyabusiness!
'Nonya? - Yeah, nonyabusinness!'
• Is nonya a real world?
Nonya is spelled N-O-N-Y-A. I repeat N-O-N-Y-A, so is nonya a real word? No, nonya is not a real word, it doesn't mean anything, it's just a joke.
• What is nonya used for?
I think the best way to understand how this joke works is by reading the story again. What's happening is that the big sister wants to get some information and she's asking her little sister all these questions and obviously, the little sister doesn't want to answer any of those questions. If you are in that position and someone's asking all these questions at one point, if the right question comes along, so a good question would be, what's his name, or what is this thing, or what are you doing? Then you can answer with this made up word, which is nonya. What you want for the other person to do is you want them to ask you, you want them to be confused because obviously this is a made-up word and you want them to ask you like, "Nonya, what do you mean? what's nonya?" Then what you want to do is finish off the joke by saying nonya business. What this is, is basically the shortened version of the expression none of your business, meaning, it's not your business. Don't ask me all these questions. Obviously, it's probably going to work only with people that don't know about this joke, because otherwise they're going to know, and they're not going to ask clarification when you tell them nonya, but trust me, if they don't know, this could be really funny.
• Is “nonya” used in a joking manner or is it used in serious conversations?
No. This nonya business joke is used only in a joking manner with I don't know, a friend or in informal conversations, it's just something funny. It's a funny comeback if you want to let the other person know that you don't want to share that personal detail with them. If the police are questioning you, maybe don't answer with nonya. I don't think they're going to find it funny.
[mepr-active rule=”1521″ ifallowed=”hide”]
Join the Community and access the FULL transcript (Questions + Answers).
[/mepr-active]
[mepr-active rule=”1520″ ifallowed=”hide”]
[mepr-login-form]
[/mepr-active]
