"Matthew Russotto" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Lloyd E. Sponenburgh wrote:

OK! You've done it now!

I know this trivia (being in the explosives industry), but most don't.

WHAT does it mean to "freeze the balls off a brass monkey"?

Far as I know, all the explanations for this have been shot down.
Brass monkey being used to hold iron canonballs among them.

Well, actually, brass monkeys were used to hold balls on deck, but for
presentation and inspection, not for "ready shot".

I'll agree with the rantings of one poster who cited the relative expansion
coefficients of brass and iron, that it doesn't look like contraction alone
could do it.

(I don't contend this is right, but) The common anecdote has the trivets
forged. What if they were cast in one piece? What about possible
embrittlement of cast brass at low temperatures? If a cast brass trivet
were heavily secured at its apexes (apices?) to a deck that tends to rack
and twist somewhat (as all wooden ships do), and the temperature dropped to,
say, -20F, what might happen to the mechanical integrity of the brass?
Would it crack?

LLoyd