美國習慣用語 第868:funny business

我一直覺得我的鄰居看起來很可疑，他年紀輕輕，有什麼正經工作，可是他卻開着一輛豪華轎車，還有一艘遊艇。後來我注意到，總是有人上他家做客，而且這些人都是過半個小時就出來。這可疑的情形，讓我想到了一句習慣用語，那就是: funny business.

這兩個詞大家應該都非常熟悉，funny滑稽可笑的，business事情，生意。連起來，funny business, 意思卻來了個180度大轉彎，指的是非法的，或者不合道德的。

After seeing people coming and going from the neighbor's house, I began to suspect there was some funny business taking place, 看到我鄰居家老是有人進進出處，我開始懷疑他們在進行什麼非法交易。

居然被我猜對了！1個月之後，警察就出現在他們的家門口，原來他在做毒品交易。幸好這不是個暴力案件，而在下面的例子裏，我們來看看這名記者爲我們講述一場犯罪情況:

例句-1：The cop knew the crook was armed and dangerous. When she finally caught him, he was told to throw down his gun and put his hands up over his head. She also warned him not to try any funny business. It was clear that she wouldn't hesitate to shoot if he made any wrong moves.

這段話是說: 警察知道這個壞人身上帶了槍，很危險。她最終抓到他的時候，警察告訴他放下武器並把手放到腦後，並且警告他不要耍任何把戲。很明顯，如果他有任何舉動，警察會毫不猶豫地開槍。

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警察的顧慮是對的。很多犯罪份子都會在他們的衣服或者鞋裏藏另一把槍。這就是爲什麼警察需要隨時保持警惕。The cop needs to remain cautious in case there's any funny business, 爲防止壞人耍把戲，警察必須隨時隨地保持警惕。

上面我們說到, funny business除了指非法的事情，還可以指不道德，不合理的行爲。下面的例子就講到了這樣一個情況。讓我們來聽聽看:

例句-2：Recently, Paula's husband was busier than ever, and had to go out of town one weekend every month to meet with clients. She started to wonder if there was some funny business going on. Soon enough, she found purchases of women's jewelry and lingerie on his credit card bill. He was having an affair with his secretary!

這段話是說：寶拉的丈夫最近比以往都要忙，而且每個月都有一個週末要出差，去跟客戶見面。寶拉開始懷疑是不是有什麼問題。不久之後，她發現丈夫在用信用卡購買女士珠寶和內衣。原來他跟他的祕書有一腿!

女人的第六感通常特別準! 就像上次我帶我的前男友回家，我媽媽就特別不喜歡他! 她覺得這個人看起來不夠正直。之後的幾個星期，我們竟然一起看到這個男人在跟別的女生約會! 可真不怎麼樣!