Posted by Doc Dave on Friday, January 14, 2005 at 2:08PM :
In Reply to: Re: Lets have a contest.. It's so cold........ posted by MoparNorm on Friday, January 14, 2005 at 1:14PM :
..it would freeze the balls off a brass monkey!
Supposedly the "real" meaning of this saying is nautical.
A brass monkey was a triangular shaped horizontally placed brass holder for cannon balls-of a consistent size. It had impressions in it to hold the 1st layer of balls, and they more were then stacked in a pyramid. If it got really cold, it would contract enough that the cannon balls would not stay in place on the bottom and then roll, causing a major problem on the deck of 18th and 19 the century fighting ships.