monkey see, monkey do
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
People often imitate what they see others doing
Literally: a monkey mimicking actions
Examples
The kids learned to swear just because monkey see, monkey do
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed on English Wikiquote “English proverbs” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31). Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “monkey see, monkey do” mean?
People often imitate what they see others doing Literally: a monkey mimicking actions
Is “monkey see, monkey do” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.