nunya
Nunya is short for "none of your," as in "none of your business." It is a reply that refuses to answer a question, playful between friends and blunt anywhere else.
By Cal Hewitt, Gen X · Researched from public sources · ·
What it means
Nunya is how "none of your" sounds said fast, and the word after it is almost always business. Slang.net records it on its own and in the longer forms nunya business, nunya bizness and nunya biz, and on its own it carries the whole reply. Whoever sends it is telling you the topic is private and they are not going to answer. How hard it lands depends on the question and the relationship. Between friends, a nunya after "how much did you pay for those tickets?" is a grin in text form. Sent flatly after a reasonable question, or to a coworker, a teacher or a stranger, it reads as a brush-off, and it sounds sharper than "I'd rather not say" or "none of your concern", which set the same boundary more calmly. In a text you lose the tone of voice, so look at what surrounds it: a bare nunya after a real question usually means drop it, while an emoji, a joke after it or an obviously trivial question points to teasing. It is informal, so it does not belong at work or in anything formal. "I'd rather keep that private" or "I'm not comfortable discussing that" does the same job politely.
See the quick definition in the nunya dictionary entry.
How to use it
“how much did u pay for those tickets? / nunya 😌”
A playful dodge between friends. The emoji and the harmless question keep it light.
“where are you going / nunya”
A bare reply to a direct question. The sender wants the subject dropped.
“nunya business, stop asking”
The full form, spelled out. This one is a firm boundary.
“what did you get on the test? / nunya”
Keeping a grade private. Tone decides whether it is teasing or a shutdown.
Where it came from
Nunya is a spoken contraction of "none of your business" written the way it sounds. The earliest dated record is an entry in a user-submitted English slang dictionary compilation, sent in by Alexander Petrovinski of New Jersey on January 15, 1998. It defines nunya as a contraction of "none of your business" and gives the example "How much do I weigh? Nunya!" That shows the word was already in circulation by early 1998. No single coiner is documented, and the person who submitted the entry recorded the word.
Two other accounts circulate. Definithing says nunya was first mentioned in the Disney Channel movie Brink!, which premiered on August 29, 1998, seven months after the dictionary entry, so the film is an early appearance of the word. Slang.net suggests it may have begun in outlaw motorcycle clubs as part of the phrase "argo nunya" and offers no dated example to back that up.
The word kept turning up in popular culture. Kehlani released "Nunya" featuring Dom Kennedy on February 19, 2019, and Time wrote three days later that the title refers to "none of your business." Wiktionary separately records nunya in Australian colloquial English, chiefly Australian Aboriginal English, as the same contraction of "none of your."
No single person is credited, the origin is commonly reported.
Where it's popular
English-language texting, online chat and social media, with Slang.net filing it under all three. Wiktionary also records it in Australian colloquial English, chiefly Australian Aboriginal English.
Nunya also appears as a name: a company called Nunya Business and a bar called Nunya both show up in searches for the word, and neither has anything to do with the slang reply.
How it caught on
- January 15, 1998The earliest dated record: a user-submitted slang dictionary entry from Alexander Petrovinski of New Jersey, defining nunya as a contraction of "none of your business."
- August 29, 1998The Disney Channel movie Brink! premieres; Definithing says nunya was first mentioned in it.
- February 19, 2019Kehlani releases the single "Nunya" featuring Dom Kennedy.
- February 22, 2019Time reviews the song and explains that the title refers to "none of your business."
- September 2026Gen X creators on TikTok post nunya as a #wordoftheday, treating it as familiar slang worth bringing back.
Test yourself
Can you read a nunya?
0/21. You ask a coworker what they earn and they reply "nunya." What do they mean?
2. What is the earliest dated record of nunya?
Related slang
Questions people ask
What is slang for "none of your business"?
Nunya. It is "none of your" said fast, often finished as nunya business or nunya biz, and it works on its own as the whole reply. Cyber Definitions defines it simply as "None of Your Business."
What does "Nonya" mean in slang?
The same as nunya: "none of your business." Both spellings write down how "none of your" sounds when someone says it quickly, so a nonya in reply to a question is a refusal to answer.
What does it mean when someone says nunya?
They are declining to answer and telling you the topic is private. Definithing describes it as a response to a question asking for personal information the asker is not entitled to. Between friends it is often a joke; after a serious question it usually means drop it.
What is a Nunya business?
Nunya business is the fuller form of the slang reply, "none of your business", sometimes spelled nunya biz or nunya bizness. Nunya Business is also the name of a real company, which is why it turns up in searches with questions about whether the company is legitimate.
Is nunya rude?
It can be. It refuses to answer, so it sounds blunt to a coworker, a teacher, a stranger or anyone who asked something reasonable. Among close friends dodging a harmless question, it is usually playful.
Can you say nunya without adding business?
Yes. Slang.net notes it can stand alone for the complete phrase, and a one-word "nunya" is the most common way to send it. Adding business or biz just spells out what is already understood.
The oldest dated nunya on record, a slang dictionary entry from January 15, 1998, came seven months before the Brink! premiere that Definithing credits with first mentioning it.
- https://www.cyberdefinitions.com/definitions/NUNYA.html
- https://slang.net/meaning/nunya
- https://definithing.com/nunya/
- https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nunya
- https://studylib.net/doc/8533353/english-s-l-a-n-g---dictionary
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brink!
- https://music.apple.com/us/album/nunya-feat-dom-kennedy-single/1451988185
- https://time.com/5534879/5-songs-you-need-to-listen-to-this-week-75/
- https://www.tiktok.com/@tracee.midwestgenxvibes/video/7689286263735684365
- https://www.tiktok.com/@aphoenixfromphoenix44/video/7645784562617928974
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