This expression and its alternative, monkey about, allude to the playful behavior and curiosity associated with monkeys. Monkey around To fool around to waste time or loaf to engage in aimless activities also monkey around with, to tinker or play with something, usually out of curiosity to interfere with to tamper with. The current British sense of this term ‘legerdemain, jugglery, sleight of hand’ was apparently the original meaning of hanky-panky, thought to be related to the similar rhyming compound hocus-pocus or its variant hokey-pokey. Hanky-panky Monkey business, shenanigans, mischief any illegal or unethical goings-on colloquially often used for philandering or adultery. Now the gremlin seems to be extending its sphere of operations, so that the term can be applied to almost anything that inexplicably goes wrong in human affairs.
The useful Middle English verb mischieve (early 14c.), used by Skelton and Gavin Douglas, has, for some reason, fallen from currency.Gremlins are mythical creatures who are supposed to cause trouble such as engine failures in aeroplanes, a curious piece of whimsy-whamsy in an activity so severely practical as flying. 5, both major holidays, and perhaps the original point was pilfering for the next day's celebration and bonfire but in Yorkshire, Scotland, and Ireland the night was Halloween. England was the eve of May Day and of Nov. The meaning has softened with time in Middle English to be full of mischief was to be miserable to make mischief was "to result in misery." Sense of "playful malice" is recorded by 1784. Meaning "harm or evil considered as the work of some agent or due to some cause" is from late 15c. 1300, "evil condition, misfortune hardship, need, want wickedness, wrongdoing, evil," from Old French meschief "misfortune, harm, trouble annoyance, vexation" (12c., Modern French méchef), verbal noun from meschever "come or bring to grief, be unfortunate" (opposite of achieve), from mes- "badly" (see mis- (2)) + chever "happen, come to a head," from Vulgar Latin *capare "head," from Latin caput "head" (from PIE root *kaput- "head").
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