(Well) I'll be a monkey's uncle!
An expression of surprise or amazement. Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle—Shane actually managed to get his movie made. A: "Dad, look! I got an A- in Algebra!" B: "Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle! Good for you—looks like that tutoring paid off." John managed to get the job after all? I'll be a monkey's uncle.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
I'll be a monkey's uncle!
Fig. I am amazed! A: I just won $500,000 in the lottery! B: Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle!
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
I'll be a monkey's uncle
used to express great surprise. informalFarlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
monkey's uncle, I'll be/am a
An expression of surprise or disbelief. Why that particular animal was chosen is no longer known, and indeed the cliché, which dates from the early 1900s, is heard less often today. Eric V. Lustbader used it in White Ninja (1990): “If this doesn’t turn out to be a suicide, I am a monkey’s uncle.”
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer
monkey's uncle
An impossibility. Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, especially the notion that man was descended from apes, was greeted with much skepticism, and especially in parts of the English-speaking world where Creationism held sway. Hence the expression “Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle,” which was used to show grave doubts about any and all seemingly improbable situations. Another animal phrase used by doubters and scorners was “when pigs fly.”
Endangered Phrases by Steven D. Price Copyright © 2011 by Steven D. Price