Literal Translation
It’s not your onions/mind your own onions
Actual Meaning
Mind your own business
Etymology
We use this one a lot! The expression dates back to the early 20th century, but it was in the previous century that the shortened form of oignon (onion) was used in slang to refer to the anus, the arse or the feet. This is simply a slang synonym for the expressions “to take care of one’s bum” or “to take care of one’s feet” (the latter coming, according to Claude Duneton, both from the danger that feet could suffer in certain workshops of the time and from the fact that oigne – or ogne – also referred to the nail).
But Cellard and Rey, in their Dictionnaire du français non conventionnel (Dictionary of Unconventional French), also mention an origin that is actually linked to onions. According to this hypothesis, in central France, one sign of women’s independence was their right to cultivate a corner of the garden where they grew onions before selling them at the market to earn a little pocket money. It was therefore common to hear men say to women who recklessly wanted to meddle in their affairs, “mind your own business” or “it’s none of your business”.
And speaking of onions, which refer to the buttocks, we can try to revive a completely forgotten expression from the first half of the last century that could advantageously replace the very common expressions avoir du cul, du bol or de la chance (to have a good bum, luck or fortune; cf 10/09/2025): avoir l’oignon qui décalotte (to have an onion that pops out).