UKH

I’m writing something where I am describing working through a situation and there are things within that situation that don’t seem quite right, triggering “warning lights” that suggest ulterior motives or deception might be at play. Can anyone think of a better description, metaphor or simile.

When you say warning lights I take it you're not meaning actual lights (diodes or bulbs) or indicators?

Raised a red flag?

Cheers

Toby

Red flags?

Red flag is one I thought of, but was wondering about how that is perceived. I want the tone to be fairly neutral.

Red Flags or Alarm Bells. 

Alarm bells, red flags, concerns, foul play, skulduggery, bad actors

Spider sense?

Red flag or red flags.

This is posted just to annoy readers

Thanks all. Alarm bells is the obvious one I was obviously having a bit of a mental block about.

Possibly "red flag/s"?

Omen, harbinger, portent, foreshadowing..

Less negative... preindication, vibe 

Concerns, is a suitably vague and business like term. These could require further 'investigation', which may make people subconciously think that something untoward may be going on.

More neutral still:

symptoms, indications, suggestions

Cliche central! 

Smelling a rat. Unease, disquiet

Potential snafu.

I think social workers may have a phrase, something around professional intuition, for when things just don’t seem right (eg child safe guarding).

Potential cause for concern, harbinger of doom. 

Edit: That's the nice thing about knowing a language as a native speaker, being able to 'play with it', knowing a Turkish lady for a while, I grew to appreciate the difference between knowing enough to be understood, and knowing a language from birth.

A malevolent harbinger of doom. 

Hartlepool by-election?

Rather than describing the sensation (raising heckles being another one there) be more direct?  The actions resemble these hallmarks of XYZ swindle/abuse/modus operandi.

Something rotten in the state of Denmark.

"smells a bit fishy"

Hollow sounding flake

I’ve done direct with the perpetrators. This is for a different audience and I need to be more reflective.

Resulting in raised eyebrows.

I don't know why I'd assumed this was a fictional narrative...  I'll not make any of the suggestions inspired by classic US detective fiction then, and Dick Spanner P.I.  is definitely out as an appropriate source.  (It's Gerry Anderson's greatest production).

I wasn’t totally clear in my OP.

Perhaps ‘risk’ or to be more neutral ‘item’ as in there are a number of items that need addressing, further work, consideration.

Good luck

Toby

Bad JuJu (this is not a serious suggestion) 

"Giving pause" 

Smiling Glaswegian?  

ducks  

Off-normal situation

Threat indicator

Itchy ritter?

triggering a 1202?

SPAD

I don’t know if you’ve already done this but Roget’s Thesaurus might help.

Reminds me that on the railways SPAD is the acronym for signal passed at danger. Can be quite appropriate.

I cant put my finger on it but something doesn't add up

Heinlein used to call warning lights on his fictional space ships “tell-tales”.  

I can put my finger on it, but I'm treading carefully.

indicators of concern,

early indicators

indicators of / for further investigation

criterion for further investigation

cautionary notifications

threat indicators

portents of doom

omens

Is that not a sailing thing? bits of string/tape on sails that can show if the air flow across the sails is iffy - he was in the USN I think before being invalided out.