Where does the saying freeze the balls from a brass monkey come from?

Answer 1

The answers about the naval term is correct.I prefer to say"cold enough to freeze the balls off a Polar Bear" or "cold enough to freeze the nipples off a china doll"....and it gets that cold up here in the north.

Answer 2

I have heard the cannon balls theory on this. The actual root is similar, in physical terms, to this common myth.

The orginal phrase was "Cold enough to freeze the brass balls from a monkey".

An ancient chinese device for measuring temperature was a wooden figure of a monkey. It was posed with its hands extended to each side and each hand was formed of a decorated hollow ring.

A brass ball of a diameter just large enough to sit on top of each "hand" was placed on each hoop. The idea was that as the temperature dropped and the brass ball contracted, it would drop through the hand. Each hand had a slightly different diameter hoop, set by the desired temperature to be indicated. This rough form of calibration allowed the user to know when the temperature had dropped below a certain level, usually the freezing point of water.

Answer 3

A monkey is a navy item which holds cannon balls. They were often made of brass. In very cold weather the brass can contract and shatter, thus spilling out any ammunition stored in them. Hence cold enough to freeze the balls from a brass monkey.

Answer 4

This Q is just obscure enough that I'm very sure you already know the answer, or think you do. But this is the " real story " One hundred thirty four million years ago in what is now Brasil there lived a little known primate species Aurotesticus, known today as the gold or brass monkey. Then sadly during the last ice age it became so cold that the unusually large & unprotected testicles on these creatures froze solid and as they ran or climbed their balls would get broken off. This of course led to extinction and eventualy to the expression you've been wondering about.

Answer 5

The people saying it's a nautical expression are right -- but the reason the pyramid of cannonballs falls down is because of the shrinkage of the brass tray, not the balls.
A brass monkey looks kind of like some wierd ice-cube tray -- but it's brass, and square with circular divets in it so cannonballs fit into it. Then you build a pyramid of cannonballs, with the next row stacking into the ones that you just put down. So when it gets too cold, boom, the stack falls and they all go rolling aroung the ship. I bet you can find a picture if you google "brass monkey"

Answer 6

I've heard it's a naval expression. The racks that held cannon balls were called brass monkeys and when it got cold enough, the cannon balls would constrict and fall off.

Answer 7

It's a military slang expression. The monkey was the name of the square metal (brass) tray that cannonballs were stacked on. In cold weather the metal would warp making the pyramid stack of cannonballs unstable and roll off the tray.

Answer 8

Its a nautical expression about a gadget used to stack cannon balls on a ship

Answer 9

It does refer to stacked cannon balls. The other version (possibly from Max Miller) was "I wouldn't say it was cold but I just saw the Pawnbroker throwing a blanket over his sign....."

Answer 10

Brass Monkey Saying