monkey business
5
4.6
- idiom
- /ˈmʌŋki ˈbɪznəs/
- Informal
:
travesuras
- The teacher caught the students engaging in some monkey business during class.
You see a lot of glamorous outfits, a lot of people who look like they're up to monkey business.
- You see a lot of glamorous outfits, a lot of people who look like they're up to monkey business.
Examples
-
But no monkey business.
-
No monkey business.
-
Sorry for all the monkey business.
-
It's their own monkey business.
-
There was no monkey business.
-
No monkey business, I promise.
-
There was no monkey business today.
Blog text (26) -
There is no room in the zoo for monkey business!
-
It's going to be tough enough without any additional monkey business, least of all with Dev.
-
Enough monkey business.
Synonyms
2
9.8
A playful trick that someone does to make people laugh or annoy them
1
4.6
Playful actions that cause small harmless trouble for fun
1
9.7
Silly acts done to amuse or annoy other people
1
8.1
Playful or dishonest behavior that tricks people
1
8.8
Playful but sometimes dishonest behavior that annoys people
Playful acts that tease people in a friendly way
A playful habit of doing mischief or telling small lies that amuses people
Dishonest actions that try to trick people
Antonyms
1
4.6
A calm, quiet way of behaving that shows you are thinking about important things
How Mischievous
1
9.8
- Informal
5
4.6
- Informal
52
8.6
- Informal
202
3.2
34
2.7
Surface Forms
Morphology
monkey + business
The components 'monkey' (suggesting playfulness or mischief) and 'business' (activity or affairs) combine to give a sense of playful or mischievous activity, so a B1 learner knowing the words would likely infer a similar meaning. However, the idiomatic nuance that this can include slightly dishonest or deceptive behaviour and the conventional collocation are not fully predictable from the parts alone, so full understanding may require prior exposure.
Etymology
Monkey business comes from the picture of monkeys doing tricks and causing trouble, like performers at old fairs or on boats. People long ago called a monkey's naughty activity its business, so the phrase now means 'playful, mischievous, or slightly dishonest behavior'.