Meanings
- colloquialIt is not someone's problem; it's none of my business; indicates that one is not responsible for controlling or changing a volatile or delicate situation.
I repeated it like a mantra: Not my circus. Not my monkeys. Except it was my circus. Because, as I lay there, I noticed all my things out of place from the room search. This was my circus. I was stuck with these monkeys.
2015, J. J. Johnson, Believarexic, Open Road Media, →ISBN
Origin
- Polishnie mój cyrk, nie moje małpy
- Englishnot someone's circus, not someone's monkeys
Calque of Polish nie mój cyrk, nie moje małpy.
More words from Polish
Full word history & related roots →Translations
German nicht mein Zirkus, nicht meine Affen
- nicht mein Zirkus, nicht meine Affenfirst person singular (not my problem)
Italian cazzi tuoi
- cazzi tuoifirst person singular (not my problem)
Polish nie mój cyrk, nie moje małpy
- nie mój cyrk, nie moje małpyfirst person singular (not my problem)
Russian это не мой цирк это не мои обезьяны
- это не мой цирк это не мои обезьяны (eto ne moj cirk eto ne moi obezʹjany)first person singular (not my problem)
Cite this entry
not someone's circus, not someone's monkeys. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/not%20someone's%20circus%2C%20not%20someone's%20monkeys
“not someone's circus, not someone's monkeys.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/not%20someone's%20circus%2C%20not%20someone's%20monkeys. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “not someone's circus, not someone's monkeys,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/not%20someone's%20circus%2C%20not%20someone's%20monkeys.
Source: not someone's circus, not someone's monkeys on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.