mud monkey
- noun
- Slang
:
monito de barro
- She scolded her little mud monkey for tracking dirt all over the house.
Examples
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Parents often joke that their kids turn into mud monkeys after a day at the park.
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My son is such a mud monkey after playing outside.
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After a rainy afternoon, his daughter came inside looking like a true mud monkey.
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Look at that little mud monkey covered in dirt!
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After a rainy afternoon, his daughter came inside looking like a true mud monkey.
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Parents often joke that their kids turn into mud monkeys after a day at the park.
-
She scolded her little mud monkey for tracking dirt all over the house.
Synonyms
A child or dog who is dirty and messy said in a friendly way
A lively child who likes to climb and play noisy games
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a playful term for a child who is very messy' is directly derivable from combining 'mud' (dirty earth) with 'monkey' (playful, mischievous person); the phrase evokes a child covered in mud. Using an animal term to indicate playful or mischievous behaviour and simple noun–noun compounding are common and transparent in English and other languages, so a B1 learner who knows both words would likely infer the meaning.
Etymology
Mud monkey may come from the picture of a child covered in mud and moving about like a playful monkey. That's why people use it jokingly for a 'child' who is 'very messy' after playing outside.
