Monkey's wedding

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Meaning

A sunshower: rain falling while the sun is shining. Informal but widely recognisable in South Africa. Jackal's wedding is a related regional expression, not merely a spelling variant. Regional use: South Africa and parts of southern Africa.

Origin

South African English shares this expression with a network of animal-wedding names for sunshowers in other languages. Portuguese casamento de raposa, fox's wedding, and forms transmitted through southern African languages have both been proposed as influences. The Dictionary of South African English records competing routes, so a direct, single-source derivation would be too certain.

Variants

  • A monkey wedding
  • The monkey's wedding
  • Jackal's wedding

Usage Examples

  • A monkey's wedding glittered over the vineyard, with rain in full sunshine.
  • The children ran outside when the sudden monkey wedding produced a rainbow.

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