Re: Definitions of phrases containing the word business

Posted by masakim on November 11, 2001

In Reply to: Definitions of phrases containing the word business posted by Debra on November 11, 2001

: What is the meaning of the phrases "Business is business" and There's no business like show business"?

Business is business. Nothing is more important than business and the profit it brings. There's no justification for not putting it first. The proverb has been traced back to the play _Heir at Law_ (1797) by George Colman the Younger (1762-1836). First attested in the united States in _The Confidence Man_ (1857) by Herman Melville (1819-91).

There is no business like show business. Entertainment is the best profession and nothing comes even close. This saying was coined by Irving Berlin (1888-1989), who made it the title of a famous song in the 1946 musical _Annie Get Your Gun.

From _Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings_ (1996) by Gregory Y. Titelman