[ti:'To Have a Monkey on Your Back' Is No Laughing Matter]
[by:www.21voa.com]
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[00:07.56]And now, Words and Their Stories,
[00:11.12]from VOA Learning English.
[00:18.60]Today we talk about an expression, or idiom,
[00:22.56]involving an animal – a monkey to be exact.
[00:28.72]Monkeys are intelligent animals,
[00:32.08]and they often do funny things.
[00:36.16]So, the English language has some monkey expressions
[00:41.00]that describe a fun situation.
[00:45.48]For example, to monkey around
[00:48.76]means to do things that are not useful or serious.
[00:54.48]And if something is more fun than a barrel of monkeys,
[00:58.88]it is very fun!
[01:02.24]But what if you had to carry a monkey around with you
[01:06.84]every minute of every day ... on your back?
[01:11.48]That may not be so fun.
[01:15.52]And that brings us to today's expression
[01:19.04]– to have a monkey on your back.
[01:23.60]If you have a monkey on your back, you have a problem
[01:28.04]that cannot be easily solved.
[01:31.04]And you possibly have had that problem for a long time.
[01:38.16]To have a monkey on your back
[01:40.84]can also mean to carry a great emotional weight.
[01:46.16]This weight comes from a bad decision
[01:50.00]or perhaps a feeling that you have done something wrong.
[01:55.64]But the expression is used in more situations than that.
[02:01.36]It is often used to describe a serious problem,
[02:05.56]worry, or concern that makes life difficult or unpleasant.
[02:12.64]Sometimes we use this idiom to describe a situation
[02:17.20]that is not our fault.
[02:20.68]It could be a hardship or condition from which we suffer.
[02:26.60]Here are some examples.
[02:28.64]A man grew up in extreme poverty.
[02:32.84]For a time, it was a monkey on his back.
[02:37.68]But getting a good education was the first step
[02:41.80]to getting the monkey off his back.
[02:45.68]If a woman has a gambling, alcohol, or drug addiction,
[02:50.40]we could say she has a monkey on her back.
[02:55.20]It could last for many years or even a lifetime.
[03:01.00]However, if she could solve or end the problem,
[03:05.16]we could say she finally got the monkey off her back!
[03:10.48]There is another expression that also means
[03:14.04]having a monkey on your back.
[03:17.32]That expression is a millstone around someone's neck.
[03:23.56]A millstone is a very large, heavy stone
[03:27.92]used for grinding things such as grain or corn.
[03:33.92]It crushes things easily.
[03:36.36]So, we also use the word millstone to describe
[03:41.80]a serious responsibility, problem, or concern.
[03:47.88]For example, student debt is a millstone for many young people.
[03:54.88]We could also say the debt is a millstone around their necks
[04:00.28]or a monkey on their backs.
[04:04.44]And that's all the time we have for this Words and Their Stories!
[04:08.92]Until next time ... I'm Anna Matteo.
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