I'll be a monkey's uncle

English 2020 February 12 Etymology en; the term monkey’s uncle appears in 19th-century works and may allude to early ideas about what is now called the theory of evolution.Monkey's uncle http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-mon3.htm 1 January 2005 2 November 2013 yes, quoting Lyceum Theatre The Observer London William [Innell] Clement 31 January 1847 5 https://www.newspapers.com/image/258410402/ 3 612268908 The piece [a play called The Wigwam] was successful, as much from the rich, racy character of the acting, as from the humour of its situations and the liveliness of its incidents. [...] Mr. Oxberry was a veritable monkey's uncle, in his rage and jealousy; [...]; the newspaper article also notes that the character of Mingo, played by Oxberry, is “known as the ‘Monkey’s Uncle,’ from his habit of ‘sucking the monkey.’” The term may then have gained more currency after the widely publicized 1925 Scopes Trial in Tennessee, United States, in which a high-school teacher was found guilty of having violated a law prohibiting the teaching of human evolution in a state-funded school. Pronunciation en /ˈaɪl biː ə ˈmʌŋkiz ˌʌŋkəl/ /ɑːl-/ RP en /ˈɑːl bi ə ˈmʌŋkiz ˌʌŋkəl/ GA en En-au-I'll be a monkey's uncle.ogg AU en I'll be a mon key's un cle Phrase phr en idiomatic Often preceded by well: expressing complete surprise or disbelief. en Thesaurus:wow en Well I’ll be a monkey's uncle! I would never have thought that tourists would go into space! en Field and Stream New York, N.Y. w:Henry Holt and Company 1943 34 0015-0673 613418155 "Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle!" Lem said. "I've heerd of rifles with transits on 'em, but I ain't ever seen one. Mind if I look at her?" en w:Tech Engineering News Cambridge, Mass. Board of Directors of Tech Engineering News, Massachusetts Institute of Technology February 1970 35 3 0040-084X 923156411 Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle, I actually solved that one. en Sholem Aleichem [pseudonym; Solomon Naumovich Rabinovich] [The Railway Stories] The Happiest Man in All Kodny w:Hillel Halkin Tevye the Dairyman and The Railway Stories Library of Yiddish Classics New York, N.Y. w:Schocken Books 1987 978-0-8052-4026-9 New York, N.Y. Schocken Books [2008?] 149 https://books.google.com/books?id=R0zVZz3Z4qcC&pg=PA149 978-0-8052-1069-9 [...] I made as if to step inside—wham, bang, I'll be a monkey's uncle if he didn't slam the door in my face! What was I supposed to do now? It wasn't exactly a cheerful situation. en Steve Morrill; Michael Saldivar; Dan LaReaux; Michael LaReaux The Three Authors’ Tale II The Three Authors’ Tales Lincoln, Neb. Writers Club Press, iUniverse 2002 40 https://books.google.com/books?id=rUwD8rrF2nIC&pg=PA40 978-0-595-23565-0 But I know I am better than that. I completed two and a half years at the M.J.C., and I'll be a monkey's uncle if I did it all just to be neglected in some backwoods, drafty, lo-tech, no-glory, never-been-remembered-for-all-the-great-things-I-do, dead end court wizard position. en Carla Hester 7 The Adventures of Penelope Plum Penelope Plum Mysteries [Bloomington, Ind.] w:Xlibris 2008 46 https://books.google.com/books?id=-OnEfhbCz7UC&pg=PA46 978-1-4363-2080-1 Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle if it isn't my old pal, Captain Pete. I haven't seen you in years. Good to see you! en Rosamond Carter Weatherwood Bloomington, Ind. Balboa Press, Hay House 20 October 2014 252 https://books.google.com/books?id=3e-tBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA252 978-1-4525-2628-7 "Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle. That's incredible and …" he was silent working it out, "and that means that I am actually the last of the McNaughtens and now live here in Weatherwood.["] Translations expressing complete surprise or disbelief Finnish: fi olen äimän käkenä Portuguese: pt macacos me mordam References Further reading monkey's uncle I'll be (also I am) a monkey's uncle phrase 36273007 monkey n 121265 September 2002 en sentences