現代人茶余飯后最愛聚在一起說是非，很奇怪的是每當說到某人是非時，某人就總會在附近出現，中文有句話：‘說曹操，曹操到’，英文是Speak of the devil。換著主角不是曹操而是Johnny，英文可以說：Here comes Johnny now.(錢寧他正朝這邊過來)，或者說：Johnny is coming now。(錢寧現正過來)如果有些麻煩人或者麻煩事正過來，可以用Here comes trouble.(煩惱正來了)。

對話

A：I can't work with Johnny anymore. He always changes his mind and doesn't produce results.

B：Calm down, Kate. A job is a job and after all he is our boss.

A：So what? I can always quit my job and study more. Johnny is really a big.....

B：Shhhh..... Here comes Johnny now.

A：Hi!

甲：我不能再和錢寧一起工作，他常常三心兩意，又不能干。

乙：冷靜點，凱伊。工作是工作，他畢竟是我們的老板。

甲：那又如何?我可以隨時辭職去讀書，錢寧真是個......

乙：噓……錢寧正朝這邊過來。

甲：嗨!

‘誰人背后無人說?’在背后說人家的不是，英文叫to speak ill of somebody behind his back，這behind one's back(背面)和to one's face(當面)相對，例如：He calls me a good-for-nothing behind my back, but never to my face(他背面說我一無是處，卻從來不會當面跟我這樣說)。

背后講人壞話，英文還有一個頗有趣的說法：backbite，直譯是‘在背后咬’。When you hear your friend being backbitten, what would you do?即‘聽見有人說你朋友的壞話，你會怎么辦?’Backbite這種行為，叫做backbiting，而從事backbiting的人自然是backbiter，例如：We don't want a backbiter in our office.(我們辦公室不要搬弄是非者)。

凱伊批評老板經常改變主意，這英文可以說是He is always changing his mind。留意這個always的用法：‘be(包括is, were等be的變體)+ always + ing動詞’，多用來表示煩厭。請比較以下兩句：(1) He always complains to me.(他總是向我訴苦)。(2) He is always complaining to me.(他整天啰啰唆唆的向我訴苦)。第一句沒有不耐煩含義，和第二句不同。

凱伊剛要叫老板做 ‘大XX’，老板就來了。 ‘一說曹操，曹操就到’的英文說法是Speak(或Talk)of the devil, and he will(或is sure to)appear.(一說魔鬼，魔鬼就現身)，往往略作Speak(或Talk)of the devil