Tengo Mono - a Spanish phrase for the obsessed!
“Tener mono” (literally, To have the monkey). Also, “estar con el mono”.
No, nothing to do with monkeys, but a useful phrase for when you just have to get a fix of something. As explained by Marina:
Expresiones que se usan cuando se padece el síndrome de abstinencia relacionado con el consumo de drogas. Sin embargo, también se pueden usar de manera coloquial cuando tienes necesidad de algo.
Ejemplo 1:
Cuando pasamos dos días fuera de casa sin internet, Ben dice: “¡Tengo mono de ordenador!”
También se puede usar con comida, cuando te apetecería comer algo concreto:
Ejemplo 2:
Tengo mono de chocolate.
Tengo mono de jamón.
Posted in: Learn Spanish Phrases | Comments: 4
Comments:
Comment from Lois Cooper
¿Se puede usar también con una expresión verbal…?
Tengo mono de viajar…de ir a Espana…
Comment from Zonzamas
Si, se puede usar así también.
Comment from Richardksa
I remembered the phrase, I remembered it’s meaning, but forgot the literal translation. Durig a week long meeting with spaniards I excused myself from the dining table with the words “Tengo mono de nicotina”, and this would normally be the signal for several of us bad people to leave the room. But one night, while I was engrossed in conversation a lady approached and said, “Come Richard, it is time to feed the monkey”, and I hadn’t a clue what she meant. “Su mono”, she explained, and then it came back.
Comment from Dave C.
In English we say “I have a craving for chocolate” or in slang “I have a chocolate jones.” And if we say “He has a monkey on his back” that means he’s addicted to something, usually drugs.
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