That does sound pretty fun! What could be more fun than a barrel full of monkeys? I had to sit down and study hard on this for several hours. I’m just pulling your leg, I didn’t think on it that much!
All kidding aside, and no limbs are actually being tugged. Those are just cool sayings that are somewhat old-fashioned.
But this one about the monkeys, does spark some interesting thoughts. For example, how much fun does it take to compete with a barrel of monkeys? That’s got to be a lot of fun. I mean, it’s a barrel – of monkeys.
Monkeys are more cool than cuddly, and there always seems to be a lot of exciting energy with monkey business! Now I feel more curious than George.
But not about the monkeys, the idiom. It was first recorded in 1895, but has been popularly used since about 1920. So it’s been popular too, interesting.
An idiom is a word or a phrase in which the figurative meaning, is different from the literal meaning, of the grouping of words. They are used, and encountered daily, and most of them do have some historical origin.
After some digging, I found some interesting facts about idioms. One of the many enjoyable sources, I included in this link.
History, legends and traditions are the places where idioms originate and then become common expressions. Many of these expressions are quite old and have a surprising, and sometimes morbid, back story.
Cat got your tongue? (speechless) This one is simple but it’s backstory and origin, is a bit intense. Painfully so. Need to ‘break the ice’? This one is cool, and chilly, and has a backstory all the way from the 1580’s.
So maybe there is something more fun than a barrel full of monkeys. I’m sure it will be up to scratch! One thing is for sure Finding it will be the bee’s knees!