[AT] old expressions

[charlie hill]

Hi Mike,

First off I never said it had anything to do with the US Navy.  I always 
assumed the story came from pre-revolution ships of the British and Spanish 
Naval forces and possibly a few pirate ships that sailed the  seas near my 
home.  However, with that said I will defer the "experts" on your web site 
and accept it as a good story with no proven basis  in fact.  Neither one of 
us will ever know for a fact which is true now will we?

Charlie
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Sloane" <mikesloane at verizon.net>
To: "Antique tractor email discussion group" <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Wednesday, August 02, 2006 8:45 AM
Subject: Re: [AT] old expressions


> Sorry, Charlie, but that story simply is another myth that has been passed 
> around the Internet and no basis in fact. See: 
> <http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/b/brassmonkeys.htm>
>
> Like most of the expressions we have been trading back and forth, it is 
> just something that sounds vaguely funny and makes otherwise boring 
> conversations more interesting.
>
> Mike
>
> charlie hill wrote:
>> Greg, that is "cold enough to freeze the balls off of a brass monkey"
>>
>> A monkey was a tray that looked somewhat like a muffin tin that was used 
>> to stack cannon balls on the deck of  sailing ships.  Once they got the 
>> balls in the indentations on the monkey they could stack more balls on 
>> top into a pyramid shaped pile.  Iron monkeys tended to rust so monkeys 
>> were sometimes made of brass.  In cold weather the brass would shrink at 
>> a different rate than the cannon balls so that it would "freeze" them off 
>> the monkey.
>>
>> Charlie
>
> -- 
> Mike Sloane
> Allamuchy NJ
> <mikesloane at verizon.net>
> Website: <www.geocities.com/mikesloane>
> Images: <www.fotki.com/mikesloane>
>
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> I think the soul of America dies with it.
> Edward R. Murrow
>
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