English

Noun

monkey humping a football ‎(uncountable)

1. (vulgar) Energetic but useless action, or a person engaged in such action.

   The whole exercise was a monkey humping a football.

2. (vulgar) A manner of riding a horse, motorcycle or other vehicle, in which the rider crouches forward and may bounce in the saddle.

   This poseur was riding like a monkey humping a football, but I blew past him.

Usage notes

The phrase is generally but not exclusively used in simile, e.g., I'm busier than a monkey humping a football. or You look like a monkey humping a football. The riding position may also be used attributively, as I switched to a monkey humping a football position, in which case it is generally hyphenated: I switched to a monkey-humping-a-football position. The plural form, monkeys humping a football has somewhat different usage. In particular, it lacks the riding sense.

Related terms

• football
• hump (transitive verb)
• monkey
• monkeys humping a football