I'll be a monkey's uncle

English translation: ok

00:14 Jun 7, 2008

English language (monolingual) [Non-PRO]
Art/Literary - Idioms / Maxims / Sayings

English term or phrase: I'll be a monkey's uncle

I'm translating a novel from Spanish to US English and it involves some pretty idiomatic expressions. I need to know if "I'll be a monkey's uncle" would be readily understood in the US as an expression of great surprise

David Hollywood KudoZ activity Questions: 34 (none open) (1 closed without grading) Answers: 18075
Local time: 04:39

Selected answer:ok

Explanation:
They should understand that.

Selected response from:

Egil Presttun
Norway
Local time: 09:39

Grading comment

thanks so much for great input from all and I really appreciate it ...
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED

4 +6

Well, I'll be ...

Patricia Rosas

4 +5

Egil Presttun

I can't believe it!

Lori S

Discussion entries: 22

David Hollywood

ASKER

04:45 Jun 8, 2008

thanks to Patricia too and would like to have been able to give the nod to both :)

Jonathan MacKerron

07:39 Jun 7, 2008

don't mess with the "monkey's uncle", dude!

Patricia Rosas

United States

03:09 Jun 7, 2008

Richard, Amazing!

R. Alex Jenkins

Brazil

01:39 Jun 7, 2008

If you simply type "well, I'll be" into Google and see what the results are, you'll see 'monkey's uncle' coming up with surprising amount of hits, although not that many on the younger blogs. It's very widely utilised, much more than I imagined.

David Hollywood

ASKER

01:34 Jun 7, 2008

I needed to be sure and what great help you gave :)

David Hollywood

ASKER

01:20 Jun 7, 2008

really appreciate the feedback and that's what this great site is all about :)

David Hollywood

ASKER

01:16 Jun 7, 2008

I think it's ok Richard and good enough for me .. just wasn't sure if it would be ok for US

R. Alex Jenkins

Brazil

01:08 Jun 7, 2008

Maybe you could post the original paragraph in the Spanish to English Proz forum and see what others come up with.

David Hollywood

ASKER

01:04 Jun 7, 2008

I would like to go with "monkey's uncle" but is there any other angle?

R. Alex Jenkins

Brazil

01:03 Jun 7, 2008

The only way to know for sure is to ask someone a great deal younger than we obviously are - well you lot anyway :)

David Hollywood

ASKER

00:56 Jun 7, 2008

sounds great so far :)

David Hollywood

ASKER

00:56 Jun 7, 2008

any alternatives as I would like to give this a bit of ooomph lol :)

Patricia Rosas

United States

00:56 Jun 7, 2008

I think it works perfectly. As Kim notes below, you wouldn't hear a young person say that today, but someone in their 70s very well might...

David Hollywood

ASKER

00:51 Jun 7, 2008

in total surprise so I would like your thoughts on how we could get this over in a sort of passé way ...

Kim Metzger

Mexico

00:50 Jun 7, 2008

monkey's uncle is perfect for a 70-year old.

David Hollywood

ASKER

00:48 Jun 7, 2008

the action takes place in a conversation in which the 70+ year-old reacts to a comment about modern-day economic developments

Kim Metzger

Mexico

00:47 Jun 7, 2008

A contemporary novel?

David Hollywood

ASKER

00:46 Jun 7, 2008

it's a 70+ year-old expressing surprise at a comment

Kim Metzger

Mexico

00:38 Jun 7, 2008

What age is the character who says this?

Kim Metzger

Mexico

00:36 Jun 7, 2008

When does the action take place in the novel?

David Hollywood

ASKER

00:34 Jun 7, 2008

any and all alternatives would be more than welcome :)

David Hollywood

ASKER

confirmation

00:24 Jun 7, 2008

I think it might be just Britspeak ...

Answers

10 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +5

i'll be a monkey's uncle

Explanation:
They should understand that.

Egil Presttun
Norway
Local time: 09:39
Works in field
Native speaker of: Norwegian

Grading comment

thanks so much for great input from all and I really appreciate it ...

13 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +6

i\'ll be a monkey\'s uncle Well, I'll be ...

Explanation:
It's common US Eng (or at least it was 30 or more years ago)

(often preceded by well) expressing complete surprise or disbelief
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/I'll_be_a_monkey's_u...

Patricia Rosas
United States
Local time: 00:39
Native speaker of: English

5 days confidence:

i'll be a monkey's uncle I can't believe it!

Explanation:
In the US that phrase would be commonly be understood as one expressing disbelief or amazement.

Lori S
Native speaker of:

English

Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.

You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.

Return to KudoZ list

KudoZ™ translation help

The KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.

See also:

ProZ.com term search

Search millions of term translations

I'll be a monkey's uncle

English translation: ok

Answers

KudoZ™ translation help

Your current localization setting

Select a language

I'll be a monkey's uncle

English translation: ok

Answers

KudoZ™ translation help

You have native languages that can be verified

Your current localization setting

Select a language