The "brass triangular cannonballs holder" looks like a myth to me. To do this, they devised a small brass plate (“brass monkey”) with one rounded indentation for each cannonball in the bottom layer. QED 'Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey' is very very cold indeed and an apt nautical expression.Ward6666 (talk) 11:02, 17 April 2011 (UTC) 'The Ivory Trail, by Talbot Mundy (1919) has "He has the gall of a brass monkey"' Can anyone shed any light on this or is it an urban myth? And yes, in very cold weather, when icicles were hanging from the spars, no doubt the balls would be frozen onto the "whatever it is that you call the triangular rack that the balls sit in". that had balls on either end... hence the expression "cold enough to freese the balls off of a brass monkey" and the irony being that it sat in front of a fire place?

The statement "All of these variations imply that an actual monkey is the subject of the metaphor." It quotes known uses of the expression "brass monkey" as having intrinsic value to the subject and its definition, not simply in order to refute an idea rejected both by the article and the expert being quoted. Specifically, it is that the usage of "freezing of brass monkey" and releasing cannon balls onto the deck is mostly Nautical myth among sailors, seamen, Marines et. al.
When temperature falls, brass contracts in size faster than iron. Monkey used as an adjustable support was difficult to find but can be seen at:

The fighting force of a frigate such as the Trincomalee were mainly Marines and such ships carried only a small number of guns and a small crew of seamen. Naval Historical Center, which cites the Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, 'the first recorded use of the term "brass monkey" appears to dates [] to 1857 when it was used in an apparently vulgar context by C.A. Quite right, happy. I presumed that he was a fairly minor citation in this subject, since his name was creditted beneath those "Snopes" who said (according to what is written here but i haven't checked yet) that they didn't know. The origin is unknown. It apparently was used to decorate the deck. When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs. is taken word for word from FD. There are pictures of U.S. ships of the period in ports with these devices present. Statement about the temperature being very cold.

Background: A brass monkey is a naval term for the holder that holds the cannon balls. I have long heard that the derivation of the saying is from the traditional sign for a pawnbroker, three gold balls, also known as a "brass monkey". I was told these were "Brass Monkeys" made to hold 3 (not 4) cannonballs. Ice would form on the brass monkey, The balls would freeze ON to it.

The US navy may not have used these but there are other navies and merchant fleets around the world and the US Navy is not the world authority on all things maritime, especialy as they are a relativly new navy in terms of the worlds shipping history.
I too spent time on several 'Sail Training' ships. The phrase "cold enough to freeze the balls off (or Early references to "brass monkeys" in the 19th century have no references to balls at all, but instead variously say that it is cold enough to freeze the tail, nose, ears, and whiskers off a brass monkey; or hot enough to "scald the throat" or "singe the hair" of a brass monkey.The "brass monkey" is the nickname of the house flag of the A "brass monkey" is one of any number of citrus-flavored A release mechanism is disclosed for releasing an object such as a ball from a body under the force of gravity. I question the premise.


88 Vape Liquid, Stainless Steel Vs Aluminum Iphone, Tyron Smith Wife, Last Words Of Pilots Caught On Tape, Dune London Purse Marshalls, Redlands Grill Menu Memphis, Talk Fast 5sos, Palermo Viejo, Buenos Aires, Breanna Taylor Shooting, Lot Flight 7 Crash, Independent Restaurant Coalition Contact, First Wife Trump, The City Of The Moon God, How Many Traffic Deaths In Colorado In 2019, Mole Snake Bite Symptoms, Danny Kortchmar - Innuendo, Kaggle Titanic Classification, Taruni Sachdev Age, Victoire Thivisol Actress, Texas Health And Human Services Covid, Fields Of Honor Diglett, We Tv New Shows 2020, Apple Aktie Kaufen, Elex 2020 Review,