Freezing the balls off a brass monkey
Four degrees out now.
As for the expression -- it comes from early Naval terminology.
Cannon balls were stacked by each cannon in a pyramid and held in place with a metal jig called a monkey. Since you are dealing with black powder, you do not want any sparks. Metal hitting against other metal or stone can strike a spark so a non-ferrous metals was used.
There is a differential rate of expansion and contraction and when the brass got cold enough, the balls would pop out of the jig. Hence...
Posted by DaveH at December 8, 2009 9:25 PM