What does Monkey See, Monkey Do Mean?

[DMoore]

What does monkey see, monkey do mean?  Where did the saying "monkey see, monkey do come from?

[Quizmonster]

The idea behind the saying is that many people just blindly follow what they see others doing. Monkeys show such imitative behaviour patterns, so the suggestion is that only people who aren't very bright are the ones affected by this copy-cat tendency.

[Flanker8]

Take the chav (round my parts they are known as pikeys) - they see their parents sitting on their backsides all day watching daytime cable TV, clad in cheap gold and smoking and generally sponging off this increasingly nanny state, becuase they genuinely feel those of us that work owe them a living: their kids see this, and simply follow suit. Monkey see monkey do.