parker

nosy parker

A person who likes to meddle or pry into other people's lives. Primarily heard in UK, Australia. I have to be careful about what I tell Betty because she's such a nosy parker that she'll bombard you with questions at the slightest provocation.

See also: nosy, parker

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

a nosey parker

BRITISH, INFORMAL

A nosey parker is someone who wants to know too much about other people. Note: `Nosey' is sometimes spelled `nosy'. The village's resident nosey parker, Olive, likes to spy on her neighbours with binoculars. Supermarkets are a nosy parker's paradise. The contents of strangers' trollies tell us so much about their lives. Note: `Parker' may refer to Matthew Parker, who became Archbishop of Canterbury in 1559, and had a reputation for interfering in people's business.

See also: nosey, parker

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

a ˌnosy ˈparker

(British English, informal, becoming old-fashioned) a person who is too interested in other people’s private lives: Our next door neighbour is a real nosy parker. He always has to know everything about everybody on our street.

See also: nosy, parker

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

nosy parker

and nosey Parker (ˈnozi ˈpɑrkɚ)

n. a nosy person. (Also a term of address. No one really knows who or what parker is or was. It is an old expression, used in British and American English, at least. Some would like to derive it from nose-poker, but there is no record of the latter aver having been said.) Look, you nosy parker, mind your own business.

See also: nosy, parker

nosey Parker

verb

See nosy parker

See also: nosey, Parker

McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.