give a monkey's

Possibly a euphemistic shortening of “to give a monkey's toss” or “to give a monkey's shit”.

give a monkey’s

1. (informal, Britain, in negative constructions) To care; to have an interest or concern.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:care

   • 1998: Willis Hall, Keith Waterhouse, Billy Liar - He knows what he can do with his calendars. I don't give a monkey's. I'm leaving. I've got another job.
   • 2002: "A British managing director", quoted in Robert Westwood, Stephen Linstead, The Language of Organization - I couldn't give a monkey's. What I am interested in is the things that drive the big numbers.
   • 2004: Randall Stevenson, The Oxford English Literary History, 1960-2000 - Though a huge majority of the population may have continued not to give a monkey's for Derrida, Lacan, or Foucault themselves...
   • 2005: Justine Roberts, Carrie Longton, Mums on Pregnancy: Trade Secrets from the Real Experts - A friend living in France reports that the French don't give a monkey's about unpasteurized dairy products (cheese, etc.) but that they are completely paranoid about le toxoplasmosis.