Did you know ??
29 January 2010, 09:52 PM
#1
Did you know ??
Where some of those of your favourite expressions come from ??
For instance, Its cold enough to freeze the ***** off on a brass monkey
It was necessary to keep a good supply of cannon ***** near the cannon on old war ships. But how to prevent them from rolling about the deck?
The storage method devised was to stack them as a square based pyramid, with one ball on top, resting on four, resting on nine, which rested on sixteen.
Thus, a supply of 30 cannon ***** could be stacked in a small area right next to the cannon. There was only one problem -- how to prevent the bottom layer from sliding/rolling from under the others.
The solution was a metal plate with 16 round indentations, called, for reasons unknown, a Monkey. But if this plate were made of iron, the iron ***** would quickly rust to it. The solution to the rusting problem was to make them of brass - hence, Brass Monkeys.
Few landlubbers realize that brass contracts much more and much faster than iron when chilled..
Consequently, when the temperature dropped too far, the brass indentations would shrink so much that the iron cannon ***** would come right off the monkey.
Thus, it was quite literally, cold enough to freeze the ***** off a brass monkey.
For instance, Its cold enough to freeze the ***** off on a brass monkey
It was necessary to keep a good supply of cannon ***** near the cannon on old war ships. But how to prevent them from rolling about the deck?
The storage method devised was to stack them as a square based pyramid, with one ball on top, resting on four, resting on nine, which rested on sixteen.
Thus, a supply of 30 cannon ***** could be stacked in a small area right next to the cannon. There was only one problem -- how to prevent the bottom layer from sliding/rolling from under the others.
The solution was a metal plate with 16 round indentations, called, for reasons unknown, a Monkey. But if this plate were made of iron, the iron ***** would quickly rust to it. The solution to the rusting problem was to make them of brass - hence, Brass Monkeys.
Few landlubbers realize that brass contracts much more and much faster than iron when chilled..
Consequently, when the temperature dropped too far, the brass indentations would shrink so much that the iron cannon ***** would come right off the monkey.
Thus, it was quite literally, cold enough to freeze the ***** off a brass monkey.
29 January 2010, 10:03 PM
#6
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