Nautical Phrase/Term Wednesday: Freeze the B@!!$ Off A Brass Monkey

By Dr. M, on September 17th, 2009 3 comments   Nautical Terms and Phrases   brass monkey, cannon balls, cold, freezing, nautical, Sailing, tall ship  

A special one for Kevin Z’s time aboard a tall ship…

On ships, cannon balls were sometimes stacked in what was called a monkey, usually made from brass. When it got really cold the monkey would contract, forcing some of the cannon balls to fall off.

3 comments to Nautical Phrase/Term Wednesday: Freeze the B@!!$ Off A Brass Monkey

• Mark

  September 17, 2009 at 06:28 · Reply

  Sounds a little too cute. http://www.snopes.com/language/stories/brass.asp

• Patric Douglas

  September 17, 2009 at 09:45 · Reply

  Ha!

  As an ex-pat Canadian that’s a term I have ALWAYS wanted to know. Thanks.

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