English · Slang Historical

business

Preserved but no longer current.

Also seen as: bihness

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

The action which accompanies dialogue. "His BUSINESS was good." Generally applied to byplay.—Theatrical.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Hành động đi kèm với đối thoại

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Era: ca. 1874 (Victorian)

Where it’s used: Origin British & Irish English

Sources & notes

Historical definition reproduced from Hotten’s The Slang Dictionary (1874, public domain; Project Gutenberg #42108, retrieved 2026-07-31). Reflects the attitudes of its era.

Topics: Historical slang (1800s)

Common questions

What does “business” mean?

The action which accompanies dialogue. "His BUSINESS was good." Generally applied to byplay.—Theatrical.

Is “business” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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