Monkey
(A). 500. (See Marygold.)
Monkey
= the Devil; an imp of mischief. Hence, a meddlesome child is
spoken to as “you little monkey;” and is called “a regular imp,” or
“imp of mischief.” The allusion is to the old drawings of devils, with
long tails and monkey ugliness.
To get
(or have) one's monkey up. To be riled. Here the allusion is
also to the devil or evil spirit in man; he will be “in a devil of a
temper.” Even taken literally, monkeys are extremely irritable and
easily provoked.
Monkey
in sailor language, is the vessel which contains the full
allowance of grog. Halliwell (Archaic Dictionary) has-
“Moncorn, `Beere corne, barley bygge, or moncorne.' ”- (1552.)
To suck the monkey.
Sailors call the vessel which contains their full allowance of grog
“a monkey.” Hence, to “suck the monkey” is surreptitiously to suck
liquor from a cask through a straw. Again, when the milk has been taken
from a cocoanut, and rum has been substituted, “sucking the monkey” means drinking this rum. Probably “monkey” in all such cases is a
corruption of moncorn (ale or beer). (See Marryat's Peter
Simple.) (See Monkey Spoons.)
Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894 More on Monkey from Fact Monster:
- monkey - monkey monkey, any of a large and varied group of mammals of the primate order. The term monkey ...
- monkey-puzzle tree - monkey-puzzle tree monkey-puzzle tree, evergreen tree (Araucaria araucana) native to Chile and ...
- monkey: Old World Monkeys - Old World Monkeys The Old World monkeys are found in S Asia, with a few species as far N as Japan ...
- monkey: New World Monkeys - New World Monkeys The New World monkeys are found from S Mexico to central South America, except in ...
- ringtail monkey - ringtail monkey: ringtail monkey: see capuchin.
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