rug monkey
- noun
- Offensive
:
[insulto por aspecto desaliñado]
- She called her brother a rug monkey when his hair stuck up everywhere.
Examples
-
She called him a rug monkey for his wild hairstyle.
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She called her brother a rug monkey when his hair was all frizzy and unkempt.
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After running in the rain, he looked like a total rug monkey at school.
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At the party, he felt like a rug monkey compared to everyone else.
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Look at that rug monkey over there!
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After running in the rain, he looked like a total rug monkey because his hair was everywhere.
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At the party, he felt like a rug monkey with his messy hair compared to everyone else.
Synonyms
5
7.5
A dirty, untidy person or animal often used as a mild insult
A child who is very dirty after playing outside
Surface Forms
Morphology
rug + monkey
The combined meaning ('a person with messy hair or socially awkward') cannot be predicted from the literal senses of 'rug' (floor covering or, less commonly, slang for toupee) and 'monkey' (an animal or playful person). This is a slang, derogatory coinage whose intended sense depends on cultural/dialectal knowledge and is not compositionally transparent for a B1 learner who only knows the basic constituent meanings.
Etymology
Rug monkey may come from rug, a name for a wig or a messy patch of hair, and monkey, a word for someone silly or untidy. Imagine hair that looks like a small rug or a person acting awkward, and that's why it means 'a person with messy hair or who is socially awkward'.