Region: General | Usage example: The two departments kept fighting; I told them not my circus, not my monkeys and focused on our deliverables.

Not my circus, not my monkeys

Meaning

A way to say a situation is not your responsibility.

Used to politely decline involvement in someone else's quarrel or chaos.

Origin notes can vary by region and source; this page gives the commonly reported explanation and usage context.

A translation of the Polish phrase Nie moj cyrk, nie moje malpy that reached English speakers in the early 2000s.

English speakers embraced the phrasing on social media and among expats in the early twenty first century.