Idiom
monkey on your backa monkey on (your) back
a serious problem that you cannot forget.When you know you have to do everything perfectly, it puts a giant monkey on your back.
Usage notes: also used in the form get the monkey off your back - to end a problem:
By winning the championship, this team has finally got the monkey off its back.
Etymology: based on an earlier meaning of a monkey on your back (= a habit of using an illegal drug)
monkey on your back
⇨ monkey on your back; monkeynoun
1
an addiction to drugs, especially heroin. A tenacious monkey is hard to shake off US, 1959.
2
in sports, the inability to beat a certain opponent. Used in many sports, but probably most commonly in tennis US, 1988