COLD ENOUGH TO...

[jingle_jangle]

All this time, you thought that this was a vulgar expression...


It was necessary to keep a good supply of cannon balls near the cannon on old war ships. But how to prevent them from rolling about the deck was the problem. The best storage method devised was to stack them as a square based pyramid, with one ball on top, resting on four, resting on nine,which rested on sixteen. Thus, a supply of 30 cannon balls could be stacked in a small area right next to the cannon. There was only one problem --how to prevent the bottom layer from sliding/rolling from under the others.

The solution was a metal plate with 16 round indentations, called a Monkey. But if this plate were made of iron, the iron balls would quickly rust to it.

The solution to the rusting problem was to make the monkeys out of brass. However, it was discovered that brass shrinks 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...

Apocryphal or not? If the balls would rust to the iron monkey, why didn't they rust to each other? Why was it called a "monkey"? Why not a "base" or "stacking plate" or a "muffin tin" or something? Hmmm...

Here's what snopes.com has to say:

http://www.snopes.com/language/stories/brass.asp

Any ideas? Any other odd word origins?

[paologregorio]

I've read six of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin novels, on which the Master and Commander;the Far Side of the World movie was based. The novels are historically accurate wrt the details of daily ship life, so I can vouch for the fact that cannon balls were not stored in a pyramid-shaped pile next to the guns, as well Snopes' mention that prior to going into actin the crew would chip off corrosion in order to make the balls as round as possible so they would fly true. Naval guns of the period used other shot in action in addition to round shot; there was bar shot for example.

I can't think of any other phrases of uncertain origin at the moment.

[fireglo67]

OK, Keeping with the naval theme....

'A Square Meal'

The saying 'having a square mea'l comes from the English Royal Navy during the time of Nelson. In order to stop the plates/ dishes slipping around on the table when the ship was at sea, four pieces of wood were nailed to the benches in the shape of a square to stop the plates from slipping... hence 'having a square meal'.

[admin]

Paul: I suspect that recent temperatures in San Francisco, below 60 degrees Fahrenheit, prompted this interesting bit of research.

[blueflamerick]

Origins of familiar phrases:

http://www.neatorama.com/2008/08/07/ori ... r-phrases/

[paologregorio]

Naval theme continued:

"son of a gun"!

Supposedly has to do with a child born aboard a ship of the line, with some uncertainty as to who the father was.

Back to Snopes: http://www.snopes.com/language/phrases/sonofgun.asp

[brammy]

Speaking of films of that era, "Master and Commander" is one of my all-time fave rave films. I just finished watching the HBO production "John Adams" which was EXCELLENT. The costumes and scenery are amazing and there are a couple of short scenes of him crossing the Atlantic. Available at Blockbuster.

[paologregorio]

Speaking of films of that era, "Master and Commander" is one of my all-time fave rave films. I just finished watching the HBO production "John Adams" which was EXCELLENT. The costumes and scenery are amazing and there are a couple of short scenes of him crossing the Atlantic. Available at Blockbuster.

Ditto that! +1!