monkey run

English

Alternative forms

• monkeyrun

Etymology

monkey +‎ run

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

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Noun

monkey run (plural monkey runs)

1. (UK, historical) An evening walk undertaken by groups of young people, usually along established routes, to find a boyfriend or girlfriend.

   Synonyms: monkey walk, monkey parade

   • 2006 March 11, “Residents cock-a-hoop after winning fight to keep saucy underpass name”, in The Yorkshire Post‎^[1]:

     The railway underpass in the town centre has been called Tickle Cock by locals for at least a century and dates back to Victorian times. It is thought the name refers to a "monkey run" where the lads and lasses of Castleford did their courting ... He added: "It dates back to the late 19th Century or early 20th Century and would function in the same way as any 'monkey run' where you paraded up and down trying to find a boyfriend or girlfriend."

   • [2013, Phil Hubbard, Cities and Sexualities, Routledge, →ISBN, page 137:

     In pre-war Britain, for example, younger people had mainly gained introductions to the opposite sex through the ‘evening walk’, with many British cities having well-known routes along which groups of young women and men would walk […] . Known colloquially as ‘monkeyruns’ or ‘monkeywalks’, these provided a relatively informal and regulated space for sexual performance and display […]]