monkey-shines n.

also monkeyshines, "monkeyish behavior, tricks, pranks, antics," U.S. slang, 1832 (in the "Jim Crow" song), from monkey (n.) + shine (n.) "a caper, trick" (1835), from an American English slang sense perhaps related to the expression cut a shine "make a fine impression" (1819); see slang senses under shine (n.). For sense of the whole word, compare Old French singerie "disreputable behavior," from singe "monkey, ape."

Also compare monkey business"foolish or deceitful conduct," attested by 1858; one early source from England describes it as a "native Indian term," but the source might be that alluded to in, among other places, this contemporary account given by a professional strongman:

After Gravesend I came up to London, and went and played the monkey at the Bower Saloon. It was the first time I had done it. There was all the monkey business, jumping over tables and chairs, and all mischievous things; and there was climbing up trees, and up two perpendicular ropes. I was dressed in a monkey's dress; it's made of some their hearth rugs; and my face was painted. It's very difficult to paint a monkey's face. I've a great knack that way, and can always manage anything of that sort. [Mayhew, "London Labour and the London Poor," 1861]

词汇	monkey-shines
词源	monkey-shines n. also monkeyshines, "monkeyish behavior, tricks, pranks, antics," U.S. slang, 1832 (in the "Jim Crow" song), from monkey (n.) + shine (n.) "a caper, trick" (1835), from an American English slang sense perhaps related to the expression cut a shine "make a fine impression" (1819); see slang senses under shine (n.). For sense of the whole word, compare Old French singerie "disreputable behavior," from singe "monkey, ape." Also compare monkey business"foolish or deceitful conduct," attested by 1858; one early source from England describes it as a "native Indian term," but the source might be that alluded to in, among other places, this contemporary account given by a professional strongman: After Gravesend I came up to London, and went and played the monkey at the Bower Saloon. It was the first time I had done it. There was all the monkey business, jumping over tables and chairs, and all mischievous things; and there was climbing up trees, and up two perpendicular ropes. I was dressed in a monkey's dress; it's made of some their hearth rugs; and my face was painted. It's very difficult to paint a monkey's face. I've a great knack that way, and can always manage anything of that sort. [Mayhew, "London Labour and the London Poor," 1861] Entries linking to monkey-shines monkey n. 1520s, also monkie, munkie, munkye, etc., not found in Middle English (where ape was the usual word); of uncertain origin, but likely from an unrecorded Middle Low German moneke or Middle Dutch monnekijn, a colloquial word for "monkey," originally a diminutive of some Romanic word, compare French monne (16c.); Middle Italian monnicchio, from Old Italian monna; Spanish mona "ape, monkey." In a 1498 Low German version of the popular medieval beast story Roman de Renart ("Reynard the Fox"), Moneke is the name given to the son of Martin the Ape; transmission of the word to English might have been via itinerant entertainers from the German states. The Old French form of the name is Monequin (recorded as Monnekin in a 14c. version from Hainault), which could be a diminutive of some personal name, or it could be from the general Romanic word, which may be ultimately from Arabic maimun "monkey," literally "auspicious," a euphemistic usage because the sight of apes was held by the Arabs to be unlucky [Klein]. The word would have been influenced in Italian by folk etymology from monna "woman," a contraction of ma donna "my lady." In general, any one of the primates except man and lemurs; in more restricted use, "an anthropoid ape or baboon;" but popularly used especially of the long-tailed species often kept as pets. Monkey has been used affectionately or in pretended disapproval of a child since c. 1600. As the name of a type of modern popular dance, it is attested from 1964. Monkey suit is from 1876 as a type of child's suit; by 1918 as slang for "fancy dress clothes or uniform." To make a monkey of "make a fool of" is attested from 1851. To have a monkey on one's back "be addicted" is 1930s narcotics slang, though the same phrase in the 1860s meant "to be angry." There is a story in the Sinbad cycle about a tormenting ape-like creature that mounts a man's shoulders and won't get off, which may be the root of the term. In 1890s British slang, to have a monkey up the chimney meant "to have a mortgage on one's house." The Japanese three wise monkeys ("see no evil," etc.) are attested in English by 1891. shine n. 1520s, "brightness, radiance," from shine (v.). Indicating "sunshine," and paired with rain (n.), from 1620s. Meaning "polish given to a pair of boots" is from 1871. For the American English slang meaning "a prank, a trick," see monkey-shines. Often also "a fancy, a liking," as in phrases such as take a shine to, "fancy," attested by 1830 in representations of Yankee dialect; shine up to "attempt to please as a suitor by making a brilliant impression" (1882). The derogatory meaning "black person" is attested by 1908, perhaps from glossiness of skin or, on another guess, from frequent employment as shoeshines. updated on February 25, 2019
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monkey-shines n.

Entries linking to monkey-shines