Not give a monkey’s

The expression not give a monkey’s is a more refined way of saying 'not give a damn' or 'not give a fuck' meaning that someone just doesn’t care about the issue whatever it may be. The exact origin remains obscure but it seems that something is missing here - a monkey’s what? The most likely candidates found on record are ‘uncle’, ‘arse’ and ‘toss’ but there are many others. All of them are sometimes used when people use the complete the expression. For example, “If you believe that, then I’m a monkey’s uncle.” This was frequently heard during the 19th century after Darwin’s Origin of Species was published in 1859. It is believed that ‘not give a monkey’s’ became a more acceptable and polite form of its many more vulgar versions during the 20th century. In The Merchant of Venice Act III, Scene I, Shakespeare has, “I would not have given it for a wilderness of monkeys.” A wilderness of monkeys is certainly a step up in class from a monkey’s uncle or a monkey’s arse, but citing Shakespeare as the source of this expression is probably a step too far.