Meaning of the organ-grinder, not the monkey | Babel Free

Definitions

Noun. [C2]

Examples

“And really it is the organ-grinder, not the monkey, who should be shot.”

“Every submission stated that the Bill is not needed, yet the Minister has the temerity to come into the House and try to justify it. We wanted to hear from the organ-grinder, not the monkey. We heard today from both of them, and they both had the same message.”

“The more a minister allowed the details of a bill to reflect compromises between the various interests, the more work could be left to officials. But if a bill were controversial, while civil servants could prepare the ground and clarify the issues, the interests opposed, as Aneurin Bevan put it, expected to see the minister, the organ-grinder, not the monkey.”

CEFR level