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Peri, if one knows his Greek prepositions, means "around." Sometimes it means "about" in terms of being around. Ergos means "to work." So what does this word, periergos, mean? It means to work about, or to work around. It suggests being busy at trifles. It suggests puttering about, flitting here, fluttering there, doing this or that. Think of a piece of property, and one has the job of mowing this piece of property. It is a couple of acres and is mostly lawn. Someone who is guilty of periergos would mow a little here, and then go do something else. He would then come back and mow some more about the periphery of the property, but never get his job completely done because he is busy at trifles—he flits from here to there, never putting in a whole day's work. Thus, because of this idea—working about, or working around something that one should be doing—it came to mean "being officious" or "over-busy." Rather than being seriously engaged in work, one is busy at, not one's own responsibilities, but rather interfering in other people's responsibilities. Someone who is periergos was always sticking his nose into other people's affairs because he was not busy enough in his own. He was avoiding his own work. However, since he is fluttering around the periphery, he is always able to look over the fence and see what somebody else is doing. Checking out where they are going, who is coming to their house, what kind of things they buy or engage in, or whatever it might be. It is always somebody who is not working at his own affairs but sticking his nose into somebody else's.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
What's So Bad About Busybodies?
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