softly, softly caught the monkey
English
[edit]Phrase
[edit]softly, softly caught the monkey
- 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."