"Don't worry about it."

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Have others heard this a lot too?


I have been hearing this since high school. Kids would always tell me "Don't worry about it." Left me thinking I was being worried or thinking I was being miss understood.
But then it took me a while to guess it's another way of saying "Mind your own business." It does sound harsh when you say it, especially unfriendly, so saying "Don't worry about it," it sounds more nice and friendly. Before, it was "Mind your own business" or "Beeswax."

So I think saying "Don't worry about it" is a nicer way of telling someone to mind their own business.

I usually use it when the context of a statement no longer works. Like, for example a joke I crack because I saw something funny. If the other person doesn't immediately get it I'll say "don't worry about it" because it's easier than going back and explaining a joke that wasn't that funny in the first place.

If I do it I probably feel like I am not worth the worry, thats why I would say it. Well I hear it often when I offer help and they refuse, it has been mostly firendly for me. But now that I think about it I have heard it been used in a nasty way, like they don't think I am worth helpong them.

Of course that sentence can mean other things too like "Don't let it bother you."

If someone is upset what someone did to them or how they got treated by that person, their friend tells them "Don't worry about it."

Or at work a co worker says they need to talk to the boss and the other person asks "What for?" The co worker tells her "Don't worry about it."


That same sentence just had two different meanings. The first one meant "Don't let it bother you." The second one meant "None of your business."


But I am talking mostly about "Mind your business." I don't think I have ever said it meaning that. I have only used the new phrase and meant something else like "stop worrying" or don't let someone who upset them get to them.

i usually hear it in tandum with, "you're thinking too much" ... will have to pay more attention to see if they're telling me to keep my nose to myself.

It depends on how it's said too. I think if said in a certain tone in a certain situation it can sound just as harsh and unfriendly as none of your business.