# "More Fun Than a Barrel of Monkeys" - Origin?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-fun-than-a-barrel-of-monkeys-origin/3767>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 7, 1999, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-fun-than-a-barrel-of-monkeys-origin/3767 "1999-10-07T16:08:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2019, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-fun-than-a-barrel-of-monkeys-origin/3767/21 "2019-01-07T20:52:24Z")

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" … the boys had more fun really than a box of monkeys, to use a rather uncouth expression."

“Box of monkeys” is uncouth?

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**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2019, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-fun-than-a-barrel-of-monkeys-origin/3767/22 "2019-01-07T21:07:26Z")

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Google Ngram viewer has [an example in Puck](https://books.google.com/books?id=0_kiAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA83&dq=%22barrel+of+monkeys%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiomLGYydzfAhUG1lkKHUNWC1AQ6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q=%22barrel%20of%20monkeys%22&f=false) (a humor magazine of the time) from 1880.

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**Author:** ![BlueInfinity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BlueInfinity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueInfinity)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2019, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-fun-than-a-barrel-of-monkeys-origin/3767/23 "2019-01-07T22:56:28Z")

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Upon thinking about it, I wonder if in the olden days there was a game where you would stuff a bunch of monkeys into a barrel, rolling it, letting the monkeys out, and laughing as they wobble around dizzily and pseudo-drunkenly. If you have a particularly deranged sense of humor and morality, I suppose it sounds like fun.

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