Date: Wed, 4 Sep 1996 18:43:54 -0400

From: Margaret Ronkin ronkinm[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]GUSUN.GEORGETOWN.EDU

Subject: Monkey business for Lynne



I'd venture to guess that in this context monkey = liquor bottle,

although there are other possibilities.



Beale's (1984:748) _Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional

English..._ gives:



(1) as a second sense of "monkey" (c. 1867): "a 'vessel' i.e. a container

in which a mess receives its full amount of grog" (as in "suck the

monkey" below);



(2) as a seventh sense (c. 1889) "a small bustle or dress-improver";



(3) as an eighth sense (c. 1812) "a [prison] padlock", and



(4) as a ninth sense (n.d.) a mortgage (as in "monkey on the house).



(1) appears to be of nautical origin. According to Farmer's

and Henley's (1965:335) _Slang and Its Analogues_, "to suck the

monkey" means: (a) "to drink rum out of cocoa-nuts, emptied of milk

and filled with spirits"; (b) "to [drink] liquor from a cask through

a gimlet hole with a straw", and (c) "to drink from the [whisky]

bottle".



This same source notes that (c. 1856) "a monkey's pay" is

"more kicks [monkey business] than halfpence."



Cromie's (1811:K12) _Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue: A

Dictionary of Buckish Slang, University Wit, and Pickpocket Eloquence_

(!) gives the same definition of "monkey's pay" under "monkey's

allowance", and also notes that "to suck the monkey" is "to suck or draw

wine, or any other liquor, privately out of a cask, by means of a straw

or tube".



I hope this helps, Lynne.



=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Maggie Ronkin

ronkinm[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]gusun.acc.georgetown.edu

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