softly, softly caught the monkey

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softly, softly caught the monkey

  1. Alternative form of softly, softly, catchee monkey
    • 1865, Richard Francis Burton, Wit and Wisdom from West Africa, London: Tinsley Brothers, →OCLC, page xiii:
      "La pointe de l'aiguille doit passer la première;" [...] I should rather explain this by our kindred expression, "introduce the sharp edge of the wedge first;" or, as the West Africans say, "Softly! Softly caught the monkey."
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