what is the easiest way to catch a monkey ?

[seal!]

somebody had this as a reply to a question, what does it mean?

[Greedyfly]

The saying is: Softly softly cathcy monkey. It justs means to take caution and succeed.

[Squirrel]

Wasn't that the "Why are Pringles tubes so thin?" question? I thought the person who wrote that was referring to the way monkeys have been seen to retrieve food from jars. That is, you place some food in a thin-necked jar or bottle; a monkey inserts his/her hand and grabs a piece of it. With their hand formed into a fist to clutch the food, they are unable to successfully extract their arm from the bottle. The instinct to hold on to the food can override logic in the monkey's brain, causing them to become "stranded" with their arm in the bottle. At least that's what I've heard. Probably not even close to what the person was getting at.

[Quizmonster]

It's usually written as 'softly, softly catchee monkey' as if someone, perhaps Chinese, is speaking pidgin English. It first appeared in print in a book of quotations published in 1907. It is just a proverbial phrase recommending caution and the gentle approach as the best way to achieve an objective, as Greedyfly suggested.

[thekraut]

Hi! I'm THE PERSON, actually. And Squirrel is right, it's the "hole in a tree" method i was thinking about at the time. Doesn't really make sense when you are talking pringle tubes but it just popped into my mind and had to get out. It is amazing though, that it really works, don't you think?

[Squirrel]

Amazing (if slightly cruel), and sorry for referring to you as "the person"!