See business is business in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
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"etymology_text": "Possibly a calque of French les affaires sont les affaires (or vice versa). The French phrase is found as far back as George Sand's Mattea (1833).",
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"ref": "before 1843, anonymous author, The Grog-Seller's Dream:",
"text": "I've a mortgage now on Tompkins' lot; / What a fool he was to become a sot! […] How she will blubber and sob and sigh, / But business is business,—and what care I?",
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"ref": "1846, Charles Rowcroft, The Bushranger of Van Diemen's Land:",
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"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"lang_code": "nl",
"sense": "business is business",
"word": "zaken zijn zaken"
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"code": "fi",
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"word": "bisnes on bisnestä"
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"sense": "business is business",
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"lang_code": "de",
"sense": "business is business",
"word": "Geschäft ist Geschäft"
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{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"lang_code": "it",
"sense": "business is business",
"word": "gli affari sono gli affari"
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"lang": "Polish",
"lang_code": "pl",
"sense": "business is business",
"word": "biznes to biznes"
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"code": "pt",
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"lang_code": "pt",
"sense": "business is business",
"word": "amigos, amigos; negócios à parte"
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"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"lang_code": "es",
"sense": "business is business",
"word": "los negocios son los negocios"
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"lang": "Tamil",
"lang_code": "ta",
"roman": "toḻil toḻil tāṉ",
"sense": "business is business",
"word": "தொழில் தொழில் தான்"
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"word": "business is business"
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"lang_code": "nl",
"sense": "business is business",
"word": "zaken zijn zaken"
},
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"lang": "Finnish",
"lang_code": "fi",
"sense": "business is business",
"word": "bisnes on bisnestä"
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"lang_code": "fr",
"sense": "business is business",
"word": "les affaires sont les affaires"
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"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"lang_code": "de",
"sense": "business is business",
"word": "Geschäft ist Geschäft"
},
{
"code": "it",
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"lang_code": "it",
"sense": "business is business",
"word": "gli affari sono gli affari"
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"lang": "Polish",
"lang_code": "pl",
"sense": "business is business",
"word": "biznes to biznes"
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"sense": "business is business",
"word": "amigos, amigos; negócios à parte"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"lang_code": "es",
"sense": "business is business",
"word": "los negocios son los negocios"
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"code": "ta",
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"lang_code": "ta",
"roman": "toḻil toḻil tāṉ",
"sense": "business is business",
"word": "தொழில் தொழில் தான்"
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],
"word": "business is business"
}
Download raw JSONL data for business is business meaning in English (3.1kB)
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"title": "business is business",
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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-12-23 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-12-02 using wiktextract (6fdc867 and 9905b1f). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
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