I'll be a monkey's uncle
English
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
I'll be a monkey's uncle
- /ˈaɪl biː ə ˈmʌŋkiz ˌʌŋkəl/ UK
- /ɑːl-/ UK
- /ˈɑːl bi ə ˈmʌŋkiz ˌʌŋkəl/ US
Where it comes from
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. 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.
phrase
- Often preceded by well: expressing complete surprise or disbelief. Well I’ll be a monkey's uncle! I would never have thought that tourists would go into space!
Translations
Every language
phrase expressing complete surprise or disbelief
| Português | macacos me mordam |
|---|
Talk about this word "I'll be a monkey's uncle." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/i'll%20be%20a%20monkey's%20uncle. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. I'll be a monkey's uncle. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/i'll%20be%20a%20monkey's%20uncle "I'll be a monkey's uncle." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/i'll%20be%20a%20monkey's%20uncle.Cite this
@misc{i_ll_be_a_monkey_s_uncle_2026,
title = {I'll be a monkey's uncle},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/i'll%20be%20a%20monkey's%20uncle},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
