Hanky Panky
QUESTION:
Lucy in Korea wants to know what “hanky panky” means.
ANSWER:
Hanky pankyis used in two major ways. First, “hanky panky” is used to describe a secret sexual relationshipthat is against the rules or that is not generally acceptable, perhaps because the two people involved are married to other people, or they work in a company that does not allow its employees to be romantically involved (偷鸡摸狗之事;见不得人的事). If you suspect something is going on, you migh say, “I think there is some hanky panky going on between those two.”
A second way it is used is to describe improperor bad behavior, often something that is done secretly so other people, such as those in authority(with power), don’t know about it. It’s usually something that is bad or wrong, but that is not too major or important. For example, your mother packs(puts into one container) you a lunch with healthy foods, but you trade(give something in e//www.58yuanyou.comxchange for something else) your carrots for someone else’s candy. One day, you return home and youwww.58yuanyou.comr mother sees a candy wrapper(paper that candy is packaged in) in your lunchbox. She may say, “I think there’s some hanky panky going on here.”
There is also a very well known oldie(old, classic song) that mentions “hanwww.58yuanyou.comky panky.” I’ll let you decide which meaning the song i原由网s re//www.58yuanyou.comferring to.