This, however, is my invention just to help you remember the term. Originally, the "monkey" is believed to have referred to drug addiction – monkey was sometimes called "the white monkey" pointing to the white color of cocaine. To get the monkey off one's back, therefore, means to be able to finally kick the bad habit.
Nowadays, the expression is widely applied by people everywhere to any burden they feel they have freed themselves from, especially a mental burden.
In Chinese – I hope bringing in the Chinese language won't further complicate the matter – we have many similar expressions. Those that come uppermost in mind include: 去了一块心病、一块石头落了地、如释重负。
Don't forget, though, the term is primarily an American expression. Just this past week, I've found two sightings of the expression from reports on NBA basketball, a game that I follow on a daily basis.
Here they are: 1. For the second straight season, Baron Davis' team lost its first six games before getting that elusive first victory.
Last season, Davis was with the Golden State Warriors. Now he's with the Los Angeles Clippers, whom the Warriors beat a year ago to end their drought.
"It's pretty much the same feeling—a feeling of frustration," Davis said Sunday, after getting 22 points and 10 assists in the Clippers' 103-92 victory over the Dallas Mavericks. "We let a couple of games get away that we had control of. But once you get that first one, it just takes the monkey of (sic) your back and you realize that you know how to win." - Clippers get first win, beating Mavericks 103-92, AP, November 9, 2008.
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