"softly, softly, catchee monkey" meaning in All languages combined

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en"
      },
      "expansion": "Uncertain",
      "name": "unc"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "wo",
        "3": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "Wolof",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "wo",
        "2": "golo"
      },
      "expansion": "golo",
      "name": "l"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "wo",
        "2": "Ndànk-ndànk, mooy jàpp golo ci ñaay"
      },
      "expansion": "Ndànk-ndànk, mooy jàpp golo ci ñaay",
      "name": "lang"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "catchee"
      },
      "expansion": "catchee",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "softly, softly caught the monkey",
        "3": "caught the monkey"
      },
      "expansion": "caught the monkey",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Uncertain. Commentators refer to a variety of African languages or nations, but generally lack specific detail. Benham's Book of Quotations suggests the phrase originated from Black English, but is unclear. Compare the Wolof proverb, Ndànk-ndànk, mooy jàpp golo ci ñaay (“Slowly, slowly one catches a monkey in the forest”).\nAlthough the phrase is attested with non-standard assonant catchee mainly from the twentieth century, Eric Partridge suggests it was probably coined in the late nineteenth. Quotations from the mid-nineteenth century use catch or caught the monkey.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "phrase"
      },
      "expansion": "softly, softly, catchee monkey",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "phrase",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "49 51",
      "word": "softly softly"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "56 44",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1840, Archer Polson, James Grant, Law and Lawyers; or, Sketches and Illustrations of Legal History and Biography, London: Longman, Orme, Brown, Green & Longmans, →OCLC",
          "text": "\"Prudens qui patiens,\" was the motto of our great Coke : a motto which the negro pithily paraphrases — \"Softly, softly, catch monkey.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1896 March, Robert Baden-Powell, “The Native Levy in the Ashanti Expedition, 1895-96”, in Journal of the Royal United Service Institution, volume 40, London: J. J. Keliher & Co., page 305",
          "text": "It is a West Coast proverb, which says, “Softly, softly, catchee monkey.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1920, John Hargrave, The Wigwam Papers and Totem Talks, London: C. Arthur Pearson, →OCLC, page 33",
          "text": "the really important part of Scouting is to become good Scouts — \"wise old birds,\" in fact. \"Softly, softly, catchee monkey!\" Not by making a row, but by cunning and kindness",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1950, “Conference Conundrums”, in The Journal – Institute of Journalists, volume 38, page 148",
          "text": "Having failed to secure a Press Council of the sort they wanted, they are now trying, in a small way, to get something established — on the old principle of ‘Softly, softly, catchee monkey.’",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Proceed cautiously or gently to achieve an objective."
      ],
      "id": "en-softly,_softly,_catchee_monkey-en-phrase-~ud7UMjC"
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2013 March 31, Gina Hoisington, “The Logic of My Anger: A Sociopath's Tale of Vengeance”, in BDSM Library",
          "text": "Softly, softly, catchee monkey, I thought to myself....slow and sure was the way with a woman like this.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Capture a target without startling it and causing it to run away."
      ],
      "id": "en-softly,_softly,_catchee_monkey-en-phrase-Mlb4F0xn"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "49 51",
      "word": "softly, softly caught the monkey"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "49 51",
      "word": "softly, softly catch a monkey"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Eric Partridge"
  ],
  "word": "softly, softly, catchee monkey"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English phrases",
    "English terms derived from Wolof",
    "English terms with unknown etymologies"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en"
      },
      "expansion": "Uncertain",
      "name": "unc"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "wo",
        "3": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "Wolof",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "wo",
        "2": "golo"
      },
      "expansion": "golo",
      "name": "l"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "wo",
        "2": "Ndànk-ndànk, mooy jàpp golo ci ñaay"
      },
      "expansion": "Ndànk-ndànk, mooy jàpp golo ci ñaay",
      "name": "lang"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "catchee"
      },
      "expansion": "catchee",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "softly, softly caught the monkey",
        "3": "caught the monkey"
      },
      "expansion": "caught the monkey",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Uncertain. Commentators refer to a variety of African languages or nations, but generally lack specific detail. Benham's Book of Quotations suggests the phrase originated from Black English, but is unclear. Compare the Wolof proverb, Ndànk-ndànk, mooy jàpp golo ci ñaay (“Slowly, slowly one catches a monkey in the forest”).\nAlthough the phrase is attested with non-standard assonant catchee mainly from the twentieth century, Eric Partridge suggests it was probably coined in the late nineteenth. Quotations from the mid-nineteenth century use catch or caught the monkey.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "phrase"
      },
      "expansion": "softly, softly, catchee monkey",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "phrase",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "softly softly"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1840, Archer Polson, James Grant, Law and Lawyers; or, Sketches and Illustrations of Legal History and Biography, London: Longman, Orme, Brown, Green & Longmans, →OCLC",
          "text": "\"Prudens qui patiens,\" was the motto of our great Coke : a motto which the negro pithily paraphrases — \"Softly, softly, catch monkey.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1896 March, Robert Baden-Powell, “The Native Levy in the Ashanti Expedition, 1895-96”, in Journal of the Royal United Service Institution, volume 40, London: J. J. Keliher & Co., page 305",
          "text": "It is a West Coast proverb, which says, “Softly, softly, catchee monkey.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1920, John Hargrave, The Wigwam Papers and Totem Talks, London: C. Arthur Pearson, →OCLC, page 33",
          "text": "the really important part of Scouting is to become good Scouts — \"wise old birds,\" in fact. \"Softly, softly, catchee monkey!\" Not by making a row, but by cunning and kindness",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1950, “Conference Conundrums”, in The Journal – Institute of Journalists, volume 38, page 148",
          "text": "Having failed to secure a Press Council of the sort they wanted, they are now trying, in a small way, to get something established — on the old principle of ‘Softly, softly, catchee monkey.’",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Proceed cautiously or gently to achieve an objective."
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2013 March 31, Gina Hoisington, “The Logic of My Anger: A Sociopath's Tale of Vengeance”, in BDSM Library",
          "text": "Softly, softly, catchee monkey, I thought to myself....slow and sure was the way with a woman like this.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Capture a target without startling it and causing it to run away."
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "softly, softly caught the monkey"
    },
    {
      "word": "softly, softly catch a monkey"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Eric Partridge"
  ],
  "word": "softly, softly, catchee monkey"
}