THE BALLS OF A BRASS MONKEY

 

Haven't you come across the expression: "It was so cold that it would freeze the balls of a brass monkey"? I have always wondered where this strange, if slightly profane, expression came from. And what does it have to do with a monkey of whichever material?

I am told it comes from the naval profession. A munkey (also spelt monkey) was a kind of gun made of brass (or iron in some cases) used in war-ships. The cannon balls (made of iron) for use in the gun would be placed on a dimpled brass plate on the deck of a war-ship.

As the small amount of seawater held in place by capillary action at the contact point of two balls freezes on a particularly cold day, it pushes the balls apart. This will make the stack of balls less stable, making the once at the edges fall.

Even if seawater did not intervene, given the coefficients of expansion of iron and brass, the balls may get displaced from their dimples on cold days. That is how the balls of a brass monkey freeze.

Reasearch says there are similar expressions like "talk the tail off a brass monkey" and "hot enough to melt the nose off a brass monkey". Are they related? Your guess is as good as mine.