brass monkey

alexz The Wordnet definition is incorrect. Cannonballs were never on 'Brass Monkeys'. The original use of Brass Monkey was in the 1850's to describe weather so hot that it would melt the feet or tail off of a brass monkey. In the late 1800's it became an Americanism for cold weather.

1888 - Freezing the Tail off a brass monkey. http://goo.gl/uMSDY

1889 book of Americanisms - Freeze the nose off http://goo.gl/YuOE1

1852 - refers to people from India who worship the Monkey God, keeping brass monkeys in their houses. http://goo.gl/Jc37L

1852 - hot enough to melt the nose off of. http://goo.gl/x3SlF

1847 has 'melt the nose off' http://goo.gl/luLMf

1848 was the beginning of the modern era for India, and the English and Indian cultures mixed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India#Modern_India

I suspect that coincides with Brass Monkeys appearing in the English language.

My favourite reference is the Prince Vance story. http://goo.gl/eolZi


Recently, Brass Monkey refers to an alcoholic drink. The Beastie Boys had a song about it.

Dec 31, 2012

cohenizzy This seems to be the translation of a Hebrew pun on a Hebrew phrase.
Hebrew text: PeLeTZ + K'Foo = shiver (compare English palsy) + frozen
Hebrew pun: P'LiZ + KoF = brass monkey
Treating P as B in Arabic, P'LiZ KoF => balls (k)off ..., hence
"cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey." Jun 18, 2009

qroqqa The problem is that M has been revised for the third edition and B hasn't. They've put a link in the new M entry to what's going to be in the B entry once they get there—many years away, at the present rate. In the meantime, Oxford experts debunk the traditional story; and greater detail (but no ultimate explanation) is here. May 27, 2009

reesetee No. No I don't believe I will see gullible, uselessness. I wasn't born yesterday, you know.

See brass monkey. Nov 30, 2007

bilby I've certainly heard the expression "cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey." Along with "cold enough for two pairs of shoelaces," etc. I don't think we mount brass monkeys on cannons in Australia. Usually we elect them to parliament and pay them thousands a year. Nov 30, 2007

uselessness Who, me? I've certainly fallen victim to the old infinite loop of recursion trap multiple times. See also: gullible. Nov 30, 2007

reesetee Oh! Well, that would irritate the stuffing out of me too! Although uselessness has been known to do much the same on this very site. ;-) Nov 30, 2007

chained_bear Well...?! Why isn't it there?!

Actually--no, I was pissed off that it said "see brass," and when I did, it said "see monkey." Which said "See brass." THAT pissed me off. Nov 30, 2007

reesetee C_b, you're about the only person in the world who'd become pissed off at not finding "brass monkey" in the OED. Nov 30, 2007

chained_bear After hearing today that this was originally a nautical term, I looked this up in the OED. There's no "brass monkey," but under "monkey" it says:
32. cold enough to freeze the balls (also tail, etc.) off a brass monkey: see BRASS n.

So, here's BRASS, n.:

Add: II. 7. brass monkey weather (see MONKEY n. 13 b).

So, back to MONKEY n. 13 b.:

1650 Articles Rendition Edenb.-Castle 4, 28 Short Brasse Munkeys alias Dogs. 10 Iron Munkeys. 1663 J. HEATH Flagellum (1672) 103 Twenty-eight Brass Drakes called Monkeys.

Well, that pissed me off. So here's what I heard in conversation today:

The plate on which cannonballs were stored was brass, and called a monkey. Cannonballs were made of lead. So the two metals had different contraction points, and one would contract before the other, and the lead balls would go rolling off the monkey. Hence, "freeze the balls off a brass monkey." I don't know how true this is. And the person didn't know if there was any relationship between other "monkey" terms involving guns, such as "powder monkey." Nov 29, 2007