Softly Softly Catchee Monkey

I was in a meeting the other day, and someone used the phrase "Softly Softly Catchee Monkey". Seriously. I had absolutely no ideas what the hell they were talking about, although there wasn't so much as a flicker of consternation from the Australians and Brits in the room or on the phone. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. After all, when we had a discussion about one of the British analyst's accents, I noted that she sounded exactly like the Vicar of Dibley's ditzy friend (Alice Horton, nee Tinker). The (former) Australians and (former) Brits laughed and started comparing Oxfordshire and Yorkshire accents. The native Eaganites looked damned perplexed.

So...in order to make sure you're not faced with nonsensical British friends, I'm going to educate you, should you choose to be so educated. "Softly softly catchee monkey" or "Softly softly catchy monkey." You see it phrased both ways on the web, although the first one seems to be most popular. The phrase is used thusly: "Let's take a softly softly catchee monkey approach." It seems to be used a lot in business. It means, basically, to play it carefully and gently to get your reward.

There was a t.v. series in Britian called Softly, Softly that took its title from the phrase ("i.e., stealth should be used in order to catch a criminal"). And the Potto monkey is called a Softly-softly in English speaking parts of Africa.

Most online information says the phrase is an old English proverb, but many other posts identify the originator (in England) as founder of the Boy Scouts, Lord Robert Baden-Powell, who picked up the phrase while he was in Ghana with the Ashanti. 'If it were not for the depressing heat and the urgency of the work, one could sit down and laugh to tears at the absurdity of the thing, but under the circumstances it is a little "wearing." But our motto is the old West Coast proverb, "Softly, softly, catchee monkey"; in other words, "Don't flurry; patience gains the day." It was in joke suggested as a maxim for our levy of softly-sneaking scouts, but we came to adopt it as our guiding principle, and I do not believe that a man acting on any other principle could organise a native levy on the West Coast—and live.'

Germans pride themselves on having an equivalent phrase: Mit Geduld und Spucke fängt man eine Mucke [actually: Mücke]. (humorous, obsolescent). This version seems to fit more with Minnesota culture and the obsession with mosquitoes. So if faced with proverb-spouting Brits, be sure to shout back, "Let's take a mit geduld und spucke fant man eine moskito approach!"

• Lit. translation: With patience and spit one gets the midge (gnat/mosquito).
• English equivalent: Softly, softly catchee monkey.