I'll be a monkey's uncle

English

WOTD – 12 February 2020

Etymology

Uncertain; 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.[1] 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

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈaɪl biː ə ˈmʌŋkiz ˌʌŋkəl/, /ɑːl-/
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɑːl bi ə ˈmʌŋkiz ˌʌŋkəl/
Audio (AU) (file)
Hyphenation: I'll be a mon‧key's un‧cle

Phrase

I'll be a monkey 's uncle

(idiomatic) Often preceded by well: expressing complete surprise or disbelief.
Synonyms: see Thesaurus:wow

Well I’ll be a monkey's uncle! I would never have thought that tourists would go into space!
- 1943, Field and Stream, New York, N.Y.: Henry Holt and Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 34:
  "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?"
- 1970 February, Tech Engineering News, Cambridge, Mass.: Board of Directors of Tech Engineering News, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 35, column 3:
  Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle, I actually solved that one.
- 1987, Sholem Aleichem [pseudonym; Solomon Naumovich Rabinovich], “[The Railway Stories] The Happiest Man in All Kodny”, in Hillel Halkin, transl., Tevye the Dairyman and The Railway Stories (Library of Yiddish Classics), New York, N.Y.: Schocken Books, →ISBN; republished New York, N.Y.: Schocken Books, [2008?], →ISBN, page 149:
  [...] 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.
- 2002, Steve Morrill, Michael Saldivar, Dan LaReaux, Michael LaReaux, “The Three Authors’ Tale II”, in The Three Authors’ Tales, Lincoln, Neb.: Writers Club Press, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 40:
  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.
- 2008, Carla Hester, chapter 7, in The Adventures of Penelope Plum (Penelope Plum Mysteries), [Bloomington, Ind.]: Xlibris, →ISBN, page 46:
  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!
- 2014 October 20, Rosamond Carter, Weatherwood, Bloomington, Ind.: Balboa Press, Hay House, →ISBN, page 252:
  "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: olen äimän käkenä

References

Michael Quinion (created January 1, 2005, last updated November 2, 2013) “Monkey's uncle”, in World Wide Words, quoting “Lyceum Theatre”, in The Observer, London: William [Innell] Clement, 1847 January 31, →OCLC, page 5, column 3: “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.’”