monkey's paw

English

Alternative forms

monkey paw, monkey-paw

Etymology

From the 1902 short story "The Monkey's Paw" by W. W. Jacobs, in which a mummified monkey's paw is enchanted to grant a family three wishes, but with terrible consequences for them. Popularised by a segment based on Jacobs' story in the 1991 episode "Treehouse of Horror II" of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons.

Pronunciation

Audio (US): (file)

Noun

monkey 's paw (plural monkey's paws)

(idiomatic, usually attributive) A situation in which a wish or desire has been fulfilled, but at significant cost or with ironic, usually unfavourable consequences.
- 2015 October 19, Sam Kriss with Thom Phipps, “Who really ever owns a tweet? The story of a 140-character message gone viral, and the man who stole it”, in The Daily Telegraph:
  It’s given me everything I thought I wanted – riches, lucre, affluence, having lots of money, and being very wealthy – but with monkey’s-paw precision it’s turned all my dreams against me.
- 2017 October 11, Helen Rosner, “What Le Cirque Will Be Remembered For”, in The New Yorker:
  It’s a monkey’s paw of a legacy, to have birthed an immortal gastronomic titan but not to have attained immortality of one’s own.
- 2020 April 2, Brian Feldman, “Welcome (Back) to the Appointment Internet”, in New York:
  For many people, the extended period of quarantine and working from home necessitated by the coronavirus outbreak has turned into a monkey’s paw situation — a theoretical wish come true that has significant downsides.
- 2021 March 27, Brian Marks, “Tom Hanks' rapper son Chet Hanks gets lambasted on social media after declaring that 'white boy summer' is on the way”, in The Daily Mail:
  One person joked that Chet was the result of a monkey's paw situation with his father. ¶ 'Chet hanks is the price tom hanks paid to become tom hanks,' they wrote.
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see monkey,‎ paw.