Some of his best friends are monkeys

You know what I mean, don’t be purposely obtuse.

I'm not being obtuse, I'm pointing out the fact that nothing would be a story if the media didn't report it. What you're trying to say, I think, is that you believe the media is inherently biased against certain groups of people, and so they foment distrust between said groups in order to keep them at their throats.

The way you phrased it seemed to imply it. Maybe you should choose your words more carefully next time?

That speaks more of you than me, sir.

I'm not the one who took an everyday phrase, saw the word "monkey" in it, and started crying "Racism!!!!!"

On WF, I'd probably just write "fuck up."

In any event, I do use the expression.

Oh shit, the Stones are racists now.

I'm sure Queef read all 40,000 posts in a matter of minutes to try and find the term.

OMG! Toots is racist too!

This.

I use the term occasionally to refer to a screw-up (“That camera didn’t work right because somebody monkeyed with the controls”) but I’d never do so in a way that made it sound racial “[black coworker]’s camera didn’t work right because he monkeyed with the controls”).

The politician probably didn’t mean anything by it, but he still should’ve considered the context.

I did a search of my posts and found that I used "monkey around," "monkey business," and "throw a monkey wrench into" but not "monkey up." Still, I do use that expression IRL, as do several others here.

I know at least as far as my dad's generation, children, all children, were referred to as "yard apes." I was referred to as such when I was a child. That said, I don't think I'd use it today.

I think some of you might want to examine why you immediate think of a specific race when the term "monkey" comes up.

As for me, when someone says, "monkey up", or "monkey around", or "monkey with" I think of... (wait for it...) MONKEYS.

When I was in school we played on "monkey bars", I guess that's racist now.

Yeah, while I *may* have heard this expression before, it's not something commonplace around here. Also, especially for politicians, isn't something of this nature pretty much "avoid at all costs" simply due to the appearance of impropriety?

Leftforge lives to pretend everything is racist. They are one trick ponies, very lame, one trick ponies.

And it's now a headline on CNN.

"Monkeying around" is a common phrase in my neck of the woods, but can't say I've ever heard the phrase, "monkey it up" before.

Meh. In Brooklyn (depending on how many Church Ladies were listening) we'd say "fuck it up", "mess it up", screw it up," or SNAFU." Again, regional differences. Never saw a monkey outside of the zoo when I was a kid. YMMY.

You say it tells us more about the person interpreting then the person saying? I agree. The OP shows us a bunch of race baiters looking for reasons to pretend to be outraged.

Not surprising as this is election season amd this os a standard tactic.

It sounds like he mixed his phrases. "Monkey around" and "mess it up".

No, "monkey it up" is a common expression. Maybe not in all parts of the country, but it is common at least where I've lived.

And @Amaris pretends to not understand this even though it's clear what the media is doing.

Perhaps he's referring to this movie.

best version! The Specials does a good version too on the Kampuchea charity album from 1980 or so.

"Still, when you are referencing the election of your black opponent messing things up and you switch to monkey that is either on purpose racial language, or you slipped and used your normal racial term by accident. Either way it is fucked up." - Tereruin

Or maybe....just maybe....drop the gain on your Race Radar indicator scope return for a minute......it was option #3! Yep....maybe he actually uses this term with no fucking racial angle whatsoever. Damn your radar picks up the tiniest hint of what could possibly be something racial or bigoted at an incredible distance!

Try not to go.......ape shit over this! Wait in your case.....try not to throw ape shit!

okay I better google "pony" first to make sure it's not going to offend anyone. FUCK! Turns out there are guys who enjoy a kid's show about.......oh those are bronies...never mind!

When someone decides that you and everyone who looks like you are racists, everything you do has to be viewed through the lens of racism and condemned immediately without further thought.

They are just following the script. Nothing new here.

When you grew up in Jim Crow era southern U.S. and had that experience seasoned with racist expressions from Cleveland that I never heard in the south, I know racism when I heart it. "Monkey" was the racist euphemism of choice among cops in Tampa.