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- Dictionarymonkey tricks
plural
- 1. mischievous behaviour. informal British "and no monkey tricks!"
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Monkey tricks definition: mischievous behaviour or acts, such as practical jokes. See examples of MONKEY TRICKS used in a sentence.
monkey tricks. Informal mischievous behaviour or acts, such as practical jokes.... Click for English pronunciations, examples sentences, video.
Define monkey tricks. monkey tricks synonyms, monkey tricks pronunciation, monkey tricks translation, English dictionary definition of monkey tricks. pl n informal mischievous behaviour or acts, such as practical jokes Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins...
The earliest known use of the noun monkey trick is in the mid 1600s. OED's earliest evidence for monkey trick is from 1653, in a letter by W. Denton. monkey trick is formed within English, by compounding.
Taken literally, monkey business makes us think of actual monkeys engaging in their natural, playful, and mischievous behavior. But when used figuratively, it refers to deceptive, silly, or foolish actions by people, usually with a negative connotation.
The monkey business or the monkey tricks? Some people think that “monkey business” may have been inspired by the earlier phrase, but others, including the Oxford English Dictionary, believe that it is an American phrase that was derived from a Sanskrit phrase: “vānara-karman.”
monkey tricks n. [negative image of the animal + monkey n. (1)] 1. dubious acitivities. 1707. 1750 1800 1850 1900 1950. 1966. [ 1707. N. Ward Compleat and Humorous Account of Remarkable Clubs (1756) 48: They beheld the Bear playing fifty Monkey tricks, as if he was as mad as a March Hare]. 1797.
