Brass Monkeys

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landyhubbard

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PBO this month, another claim that the expresion "freeze the balls off a brass monkey" originates with the iron cannon balls falling off their brass storage trays due to the "different coefficients of expansion" in exceptionally cold weather. I don't find this convincing- surely the very slight movement due to expansion would be nothing compared to the movement of the ship itself, and I don't believe that the tolerances of 18th c. engineering would support such an explanation. Surely the expression should be "freeze the balls ON a brass monkey" as this is perfectly plausable- the sea spray on the upper deck at least, in very cold weather could ice the cannon balls to their storage trays?
 
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I don't believe

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All too often belief leads to argument.

If it is important enough then do a bit of experimental archaeology, find or make the components and see what happens.

Have fun

Sean.
 
The first time that I rewad of this expression was some 30-odd years ago in a 'Letter to the Editor' in YM. I didn't notice at the time if it was an April edition. The writer was explaining how he had used the expression in polite company and explained it away with this rather absurd explanation. I'm sure that it was very tongue-in-cheek, and written in the same spirit that the late Bill Beavis used in some of his writings. It could just as easily have come from the fertile imaginations of Frank Muir and Denis Nordern as one of their hilarious accounts of the origins of expressions during the programme 'My Word'.
Peter.
 
Monkeys

Good point.

I bet aso that it's also the repeated asking of this question and discussing the issue every six sodding months that has given rise to the expression "I don't give a monkeys!"
 
It is of course total rubbish, as confirmed by a google search. If it were true you would expect that at least a few of the apocryphal naval brass monkeys to have survived long enough to get into the antiques trade. You sometimes see model cannon with the cannon balls stacked in a neat pyramid, but that would never have been done on a ship, except perhaps in harbour for an inspection.
 
There are pyramids of cannon balls out the palace in Monaco. They are welded together, and there's not a monkey, brass or otherwise, in sight.

And another thing.

Another YM writer claimed that the Tricolor flying from some god-forsaken flagstaff on Ushant, was the furthest west in the French Republic. Could someone please inform him that the both Martinque and Guadelope are departments of France, and therefore part of the Republic. Both are a smidgin further west than Ushant.
 
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Has nobody every heard of Google?!

Google search result

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I tried and this is one that turned up:

<span style="color:red">The Brass Monkey’s Testimonial

The bitter winter of 1942 nearly wiped out the entire brass monkey population.
Faced with extinction from the blizzard, their leader was heard to cry out
“Underpants, underpants. My kingdom for some underpants!”
Of course that’s all history now.
And so are brass monkeys.
However, the demand for good quality underwear never drops off.
Wise men will always insist on “brass monkeys”.
After all, just think what they’ve got to lose.</span>

Any possible connection with matters commercial is regretted; I suspect that they's talking about a trade name.
 
France has two types of overseas possessions called DOM - TOM.
Respectively Départements d'outre-mer, Territoires d'outre-mer - French overseas departments and territories.
Citizens in the overseas departments are citizens of France, and the DOM are just as much a part of France as the mainland. On the other hand the TOM are more like colonies.
 
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as confirmed by a google search.

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So if it ain't on Google It doesn't exist? What a load of spheroidal objects.

They were never used at sea - only on land and only in permament fortresses to satisfy the need of NCO's to have their men polishing things instead of moaning about the army they could moan about all the balls they had to remove so they could polish the things. and then they had to flake and paint or black the balls .

Really - some people.. Huh!
 
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