Meaning
What does Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkey mean?
Cheese-eating surrender monkey is a pejorative slang expression, originating from the animated TV series, The Simpsons, used to refer to French people, by combining some offensive stereotypes.
Origin
What's the origin of Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkey?
“Cheese-eating surrender monkey” was coined by Ken Keeler in 1995, while working as a writer for the television series The Simpsons.
The expression was featured in the Season 6 Episode 22 of the show, where the Groundskeeper Willie is shown teaching French to kids, while introducing the class with the titular insult.
Interestingly, the Canadian French dubbing of the episode completely skips the line, while the European French dubbing translates the insult.
Spread & Usage
How did Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkey spread?
“Cheese-eating surrender monkey” was first defined on Urban Dictionary on March 31st, 2003, with several other entries to follow.
Over the years, the expression was applied in a wide variety of contexts, including the Australian parliament in 2014 and magazines, such as The Times in 2007 or National Review as early as 1999.