December 8, 2009

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
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