monkey business
Activity that is mischievous, stupid, or time-wastingActivity that is mischievous, stupid, or time-wasting.
» He is up to some monkey business.
Он замышляет какую-то проказу.
Meaning
2 senses(idiomatic, informal, uncountable)Activity that is mischievous, stupid, or time-wasting.
Stop all this monkey business and do your homework!
Affengeschäft, Affentheater, Allotria
безобра́зиеbezobrázije, озорство́ozorstvó, ша́лостьšálostʹ
(idiomatic, informal, uncountable)Activity that is morally questionable or even mildly illegal.
She wondered what sort of monkey business her neighbour was up to, sneaking out of his house at 1:00 am.
хи́тростиxítrosti
- mischievous or deceitful behavior
Examples
4 sentencesHe is up to some monkey business.
ruОн замышляет какую-то проказу. — sharptoothed
Guys, this year will be the year of monkey business.
There was some monkey business going on when they were negotiating that last contract; money passed under the table.
The papers found lots of monkey business when they investigated the Recruit scandal.
Translations
7 languagesBy meaning 2
By meaning 1
Origin
From monkey + business, probably a calque of Bengali বাঁদরামি (bãdrami, “mischief”, literaFrom monkey + business, probably a calque of Bengali বাঁদরামি (bãdrami, “mischief”, literally “monkey-behaviour”), from বাঁদর (bãdor, “monkey”) + -আমি (-ami, suffix forming nouns referring to the properties, qualities, or states of the words to which it is attached), from the perception that monkeys behave mischievously.
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Synonyms
31 synonymsWord family
3 related wordsLessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Countable and uncountable nouns — Because it can be uncountable