you must be speaking a different dialect. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_does_mono_e_mono_mean http://public.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/mono.html
As far as I know, mono also means jumpsuit in Spanish from Spain. But mano a mano is the equivalent of hand-to-hand, in fighting or combat terms. Edit: Dude, that was what I said. Monkey to monkey doesn't make any sense at all.
Mono(moe-noe) is the spanish word for monkey. Mano(the "a" sounds like the "a" in "father") is spanish word for hand. The saying is, and always has been, everywhere, "mano a mano". You are simply pronouncing it wrong. You are hearing it from people who speak spanish and english.
