OT: Meaning of "monkey"

[Jon Clements]

On 26 Mar, 15:45, Grant Edwards <inva... at invalid.invalid> wrote:
> On 2010-03-26, Luis M  Gonz?lez <luis... at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Webmonkey, Greasemonkey, monkey-patching, Tracemonkey, J?germonkey,
> > Spidermonkey, Mono (monkey in spanish), codemonkey, etc, etc, etc...
>
> > Monkeys everywhere.
> > Sorry for the off topic question, but what does "monkey" mean in a
> > nerdy-geek context??
>
> In colloquial English, "<something>-monkey" is a slang term for a
> person who does a particular job for a living.  For example "grease
> monkey" is a slang term for an auto mechanic.  A "code monkey" is
> somebody who writes code for a living.
>
> It can be slightly derogitory in some situations since it implies that
> the task is mechanical and repetitive and doesn't require a lot of
> creative thinking.
>
> However, it can be used among peers in an affectionate way.  One may
> refer to one's peer as "code monkey" without offense, but a manager
> could not refer to one of his employees as a "code monkey" without
> risking it being seen as an insult.
>
> Many people are accustomed to speaking anthopomorphically about
> computers and programs, so when somebody writes a program that does
> "foo", the name "foo monkey" seems natural for that program.
>
> --
> Grant Edwards               grant.b.edwards        Yow! I don't know WHY I
>                                   at               said that ... I think it
>                               gmail.com            came from the FILLINGS in
>                                                    my rear molars ...

Can I take the slight risk that actually it can also be (as you said
'affectionately') in a very positive sense. The same way "geek" or
"nerd" can be applied. I used to be called "Big Geek" from the last
company I worked for on PAYE, but that was a compliment. But, I've
heard my step-dad call someone a "Geek" which is derogatory.

No winning when you have language that can mean "bad" (in meaning
"wicked/very good/awesome" (and even 'wicked' means good sometimes -
as in enthusiasm for an idea)) or actually "bad/not good [add your own
synonyms]". All valid, but which is good/bad :)

Anyway, this' a group for Python, not English :)

Feel better for my rant :)


Jon.