Softly, Softly, Catchee Monkey Definition
phrase
Proceed cautiously or gently to achieve an objective.
Wiktionary
Capture a target without startling it to run away.
Wiktionary
Origin of Softly, Softly, Catchee Monkey
-
Although the phrase is attested with non-standard catchee mainly from the twentieth century, Eric Partridge suggests it was probably coined in the late nineteenth. Quotations from the mid-nineteenth century use catch or softly, softly caught the monkey . Benham's Book of Quotations suggests the phrase originated from Black English , but this is uncertain.
From Wiktionary
Softly, Softly, Catchee Monkey Is Also Mentioned In
Find Similar Words
Find similar words to softly, softly, catchee monkey using the buttons below.
Words Starting With S and Ending With Y
Word Length
Words Near Softly, Softly, Catchee Monkey in the Dictionary
- soft line
- soft money
- soft-maple
- soft-matte
- soft-mick
- soft-mutation
- softling
- softload
- softloaded
- softly
- softly-softly
- softly-softly-catchee-monkey