Busybody

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

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.

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."

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.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.