[Ads-l] "Monkey this up"

[Jacob Appelbaum]

The Merriam-Webster online dictionary has this usage of the verb:
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/monkey
1: to act in a grotesque or mischievous manner
2a : fool <https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fool>, trifle
<https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trifle> —often used with
*around*

   - he likes to monkey around with engines

b : tamper <https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tamper> —usually
used with *with*

   - don't monkey with the settings
   -

A number of the other online dictionaries provide the idiom "To Monkey
Around":
1)
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/monkey-around-with-sth
2) https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/monkey%20around
3) https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/monkey+around

The wiktionary provides the following quote from Kipling's *The Jungle Book*:
"*I wanna be a man, man-cub and stroll right into town and be just like the
other men I'm tired of monkeying around"* - The Jungle Book
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jungle_Book>
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/monkey_around

In addition, the Monkees were notorious for their reputation as a band that
would "Monkey around."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOaOvlUc7_A


On Wed, Aug 29, 2018 at 11:24 AM Bonnie Taylor-Blake <
b.taylorblake at gmail.com> wrote:

> This morning on Fox News, Ron DeSantis -- the Trump-endorsed Republican
> candidate for Governor of Florida -- said this about an upcoming race with
> Andrew Gillum, Democratic candidate for Governor.
>
> “Let’s build off the success we’ve had under Gov. [Rick] Scott. The last
> thing we need to do is to monkey this up by trying to embrace a socialist
> agenda with huge tax increases and bankrupting the state. That is not gonna
> work. That’s not gonna be good for Florida.”
>
> (From
>
> https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/henrygomez/ron-desantis-andrew-gillum-monkey-florida-governor
> )
>
> I'll politely inquire: what on earth was DeSantis going for with "to monkey
> this up"? Is "monkey up" an established idiom in American English? A
> synonym for "muck up"? Did DeSantis somehow muck up "monkey around [with]"?
>
> Of course, the kicker is that DeSantis is white and Gillum is black. In the
> absence of a good explanation for his use of "monkey up," DeSantis's
> construction sounds like racist rhetoric.
>
> -- Bonnie
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org