Meanings
- USslangAn intensifier used in the same contexts as it's on, bring it on, come on, go on, and other expressions using the word on, but to express greater emphasis.
If those four white police don't get hung, it's on again. It's on like Donkey Kong!
1993 February 16, John Wilder, “Gangs put L.A. on edge”, in USA Today4 more examples
It's on like Donkey Kong / You wanted that fast buck / Now I gotta light that ass up
1992 November 17, “Now I Gotta Wet ’Cha”, in The Predator, performed by Ice CubeGot it going on like Donkey Kong, and whoo-wee, shut my mouth, slap your grandma, there oughta be a law.
2005 October 3, Dallas Davidson, Randy Houser, Jamey Johnson, “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk”, in Songs About Me, performed by Trace AdkinsIt's going to be "on like Donkey Kong" when Food Network Star and local restaurant owner Guy Fieri comes to the 2007 California State Fair!
2007 August 1, “Food Network Star Guy Fieri to visit the 2007 State Fair!: Kids can vie for the chance to cook with Guy!”, in Business Wire, archived from the original on 01 Sep 2016I will politically haunt you for the biggest fumble in the history of San Francisco politics. It's on like Donkey Kong.
2011 January 4, Chris Daly, San Francisco Board of Supervisors meeting
Origin
From the Nintendo video game gorilla-like character Donkey Kong, which is used in the phrase because of the character’s stereotypical strength and for the near-rhyme between on and Kong; likely influenced by the earlier construction in like Flynn.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
on like Donkey Kong. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20like%20Donkey%20Kong
“on like Donkey Kong.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20like%20Donkey%20Kong. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “on like Donkey Kong,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20like%20Donkey%20Kong.
Source: on like Donkey Kong on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.