Monkey see, monkey do

Another definition implies the act of imitation, usually with limited knowledge or concern for the consequences.

Versions of the saying that appeared in U.S. commercial advertisements for shoes and other apparel in the 1890s suggested it was popularly established by then,[3] and an article in Sharpe's London Magazine half a century earlier had pointed to the monkeys' habit of mimicry: "Whatever [a monkey] sees men do, he must affect to do the like himself.

Diakité notes that versions of his tale also are found in Egypt, Sudan, India, and England, and indeed have existed in Europe since the Middle Ages.

[2] Jazz singer-songwriter Michael Franks used the saying as the subject and title of his song "Monkey See—Monkey Do" on his 1976 album The Art of Tea.

[citation needed] In 1994, the (paraphrased) saying was used in a most literal sense when a juvenile spider monkey escaped from its exhibit at the Henson Robinson Zoo in Springfield, Illinois.