Additional Knowledge The Year of Monkey Monkey Idioms

in the 12-year rotation on the Chinese The Year of the Monkey ranks ninth in the 12-year rotation on the Chinese zodiac, which starts with rat, followed by ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, chicken, dog, and ends with pig. "The monkey is a symbol of cleverness and vitality and it is one of the best friends of human beings,''

For thousands of years, Chinese people have regarded the monkey as a symbol of good luck. As "hou," the word for monkey in Chinese has the same pronunciation as the word for "duke,'' monkey images often appear as part of traditional deco- rations on windows, walls and clothing. Being a duke, in a broader sense, simply means achieving success in life.

If a monkey is hanging a Chinese chop, or seal, on a maple tree, the picture can be literally read as "fenghou guayin'‘ or "taking the seal to become a duke.'' When a monkey sits on the back of a horse -- "mashang fenghou,'' it can mean "to become a duke very soon.'' The Ming Dynasty novelist Wu Cheng 'en undoubtedly played a great part in

Although the monkey is regarded as extending the popularity of the monkey with his classic work "Journey to the West.'' Although the monkey is regarded as being very clever, the Chinese also joke about its short-sightedness in the idiom "zhaosan musi,'' which means something like seeing four but accepting three. Story?

It was said that an old man of the Warring States Period kept a group of monkeys. Every day he fed each monkey four chestnuts for breakfast and another four for supper. Eventually, the old man couldn't afford it any more. So he asked the monkeys if he could feed them only three chestnuts in the morning and four at night. The monkeys screeched, jumping up and down in fury. Then the old man proposed four chestnuts in the morning, and three at night.

The monkeys were so happy to get four for breakfast that they overlooked the fact that were going to be short-changed in the evening. Somehow, the idiom's meaning later changed into "playing the playboy,'' which also describes a characteristic of monkeys.

Generally speaking, Chinese people are very fond of monkeys. It is believed that the monkey would drive away evil, and also that he would keep even the wildest of horses under control. This has develop- ed into a folk belief that people born in the Year of the Monkey will have better Luck than those born in the Year of Goat, which is the preceding year.

1.monkey on one's back 背上的猴子 难以摆脱的负担 I’m really hard; it’s a monkey on my back ! 2. monkey around. I wish that he would be more serious.  He wants to just monkey around. To handle something very casually; to do something without a real purpose; to play around.

3.get this monkey off my back e.g. I have to get this monkey off my back. I have to stop gambling stop a bad habit, be rid of a problem or hang-up 4.Monkey business (1)是指不道德或不合法的行为，往往是偷偷摸摸和具有欺骗性的行为，例如盗用公款等。  There's a lot of monkey business going on at city hall, with officials getting money under

5.to make a monkey out of somebody the table from those who want the contract to build the new airport (2)不一定指当官的人贪污腐化，一般人当中 也可能出现不轨行为 I think there's some kind of monkey business going on in that house across the street. People going in and out all day long; maybe they're selling drugs or something 5.to make a monkey out of somebody

to make a monkey out of somebody。 把某人弄得好像一个傻瓜一样。 Peter made a monkey out of me the other day. He told me the party Saturday night was formal, so I wore a suit and tie. But everybody else was wearing a tee-shirt. It sure made me feel like a fool to make a monkey out of somebody。 把某人弄得好像一个傻瓜一样。 

e.g. Tom made a monkey out of himself by jumping up and down and yelling when his father wouldn't let him go to the movie. 汤姆因为他爸爸不让他去看电影就一个 劲地上下乱跳，嘴巴里还大声乱叫，简直把 自己弄得像个傻瓜一样 The End