monkey boy
1
8.2
- noun
- /ˈmʌŋki bɔɪ/
- Informal
:
chico travieso
- Come here, monkey boy; let's play outside!
Examples
-
They're only monkey boys!
-
There are monkey boys in the facility.
-
Laugh while you can, monkey boy!
-
Understand, monkey boy?
-
C'mon, monkey boy.
Fiction book (2001) -
Monkey boys are feeble.
-
When he's excited, that little monkey boy bounces around the room.
-
She affectionately called him her little monkey boy when he made her laugh.
Synonyms
339
4.1
A playful child who likes to play tricks
2
9.9
A friendly word people use for a boy or young man
A lively child who likes to climb and play noisy games
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'monkey' used metaphorically for playful or mischievous behaviour plus 'boy' yields a boy who behaves like a monkey. This animal-based metaphor and noun+noun compounding is cross-linguistically common and follows normal English patterns, so a B1 learner who knows both words can readily infer the intended meaning (though the phrase is informal).
Etymology
Monkey boy comes from the simple picture of a young boy acting like a monkey—climbing, jumping and getting into harmless trouble, so people use it for a child who is playful and lively. That's why it means a boy who is 'playful', 'energetic', or 'mischievous'.