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- do any favours
do any favours
not do somebody any favours
(British, American & Australian) also not do somebody any favor (American) to do something that is likely to have a bad effect on you or on another person (often reflexive) You're not well, and you're not doing yourself any favours by taking on extra work. (usually in continuous tenses; often + by + doing sth) The government isn't doing the families of the victims any favor by hiding the truth about what really happened.