1. Make waves 兴风作浪，制造麻烦

Tom made huge waves in the office when he said the CEO had decided to downsize the company by half, but it turned out to be a rumor.
汤姆对大家说首席执行官决定公司裁员一半，搞得办公室人心惶惶，结果却是个谣言。

释义：直译是制造波浪，引申为无事生非，有点唯恐天下不乱的意思。

2. Man of straw 稻草人，傀儡，受人摆布的小人物

You can't count on him to help you. He's just a man of straw.
你千万不要指望他帮忙，他是个没有一点本事的傀儡。

释义：直译为稻草人，用于田间吓唬小鸟。另一说：从前英国法庭附近，常常有人把稻草插在鞋上，谁给钱，就给谁做伪证。亦可写为straw man。