> �The Brass Monkey > > � In the heyday of sailing ships, all war ships and many freighters� > carried iron cannons. Those cannons fired round iron cannon balls. It > was necessary to keep a good supply near the cannon, but they had to > find a way to prevent them from rolling about the deck. > > The best storage method devised was a square based pyramid with one > �ball on top, resting on four resting on nine that rested on sixteen. > > Thus, a supply of 30 cannon balls could be stacked in a small area > right next to�the cannon. > � > There was one problem...how to prevent the bottom layer from� sliding > or rolling from under the others. > � > �The solution was a metal plate called a "Monkey" with 16 round > indentations. > � > However, if this plate were made of iron, the iron cannon balls > quickly would rust to it. The solution to the rusting problem was to > make "Brass�Monkeys." > > Few landlubbers realize that brass contracts much more, and much > faster� than iron when chilled. Consequently, when the temperature > dropped too far, the brass indentations would shrink so much that the > iron cannon balls would come right off the monkey. Thus, it was quite > literally, "Cold enough to freeze� the balls off a brass monkey." > � > And all this time, you thought that it was an improper expression, > didn't you?
______________ Roman M. Turovsky http://turovsky.org http://polyhymnion.org > In the days when sailing ships were opening up world trade routes, when > commodities such as spices were worth as much as gold, (18th Century??) > some ships would carry fertilizer. These ships would periodically > explode & be lost at sea, & no one knew why. Once they realised the > cause was due to a build up of methane gas in the hold (& probably some > sailor with a lantern) they would stamp on the words "Ship High In > Transit", so the ferilizer would be lashed to the decks & exposed to > the fresh air, avoiding any methane build-up. These words became common > in use, and were eventually abrreviated to S.H.I.T., hence the word we > use today. > > phrases.shu.ac.uk/bulletin_board/22/messages/984.html - 9k - 27 mar 2004 > > ogilvey...ogalthorpe...va bene. > > the origin of the word renegade was told to me by my 5th or 6th grade > teacher. oddly enough, i've had occasion to question many of the > things i once heard in school. > > i take your point about idle speculation on the internet. > > it... > will... > not... > happen... > again.
