-45C = -49F

[Dawes, Stephen]

The following is taken from: http://www.quinion.com/words/qa/qa-bra1.htm
--------------------------------------------

BRASS MONKEY WEATHER

[Q] From Peter Grace: "Over here in Queensland, it gets pretty cool in
the evenings at this time of the year (though it's probably pretty mild
by UK standards). The other day, I used the expression brass monkey
weather and was asked to explain. Any ideas?"

[A] The full expansion of the phrase is "cold enough to freeze the balls
off a brass monkey" and is extremely common throughout the
English-speaking world, often reduced to the form you give, no doubt in
polite company. The origin is unknown. All I can report is that variants
of it were first recorded in the USA in the early part of this century.
There is some suspicion, because of a citation from 1835, that the
phrase may in fact be at least of this age.

There is a story, often repeated, that the phrase originated in naval
warfare at the time of the Napoleonic wars, if not before. It is said
that the stack of cannon balls alongside each gun, arranged in a pyramid
on a brass plate to save space, was called a monkey. In very cold
weather, it is related, the cannon balls would shrink and balls would
fall off the stack.

Though monkey was a term used in this context and era (the boys bringing
charges to the guns from the magazine were known as powder monkeys and
there is some evidence that a type of cannon was called a monkey in the
mid seventeenth century), there is no evidence for the word being
applied to a pile of cannon shot.

The explanation sounds like a story that's been woven around a term
already well known and is full of logical holes: would they pile shot
into a pyramid? (hugely unsafe on a rolling and pitching deck); why a
brass plate? (far too expensive, and unnecessary: they actually used
wooden frames with holes in, called garlands, fixed to the sides of the
ship); was the plate and pile together actually called a monkey? (no
evidence, as I say); would cold weather really cause such shrinkage as
to cause balls to fall off? (highly improbable, as all the balls would
reduce in size equally and the differential movement between the brass
plate and the iron balls would be only a fraction of a millimetre).

Fun story, though.

Steve Dawes
Phone: (403) 268-5527
Email: SDawes at calgary.ca


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> -----Original Message-----
> From: speakup-bounces at braille.uwo.ca 
> [mailto:speakup-bounces at braille.uwo.ca] On Behalf Of Dawes, Stephen
> Sent: 2004 January 27 8:01 AM
> To: Speakup is a screen review system for Linux.
> Subject: -45C = -49F
> 
> 
> A little off topic to warm-up to:
> 
> Q: How cold is it?
> 
> A: This morning, people in my part of the world woke up to -45C which 
> is the same as -49F.
> 
> Q: So, what does that mean?
> 
> A: All schools are closed.
>    All outdoors activities are cancelled.
>    All bussing outside of the city is cancelled.
>    All highways out of the city are closed.
>    Exposed skin freezes in less than 90 seconds.
>    Parents are warned to keep their children inside.
>    Pet owners are advised to not leave their pets outside for any 
> longer then ten minutes.
>    There is ice on the inside of all the windows. 
>       (HHHMMM maybe that is what is wrong with this computer!)
>    There are all kinds of brass monkeys missing some of their anatomy.
>    
> Let me put it another way.
>    Water freezes at 0C or 32F.
>    Outside today the air temperature is some 45C or 81F colder then 
> the freezing point.
> 
> So for those of you who may think I am a cold hearted Ba/>d, I will 
> only say that Mom and Dad were married before I was born. As to the 
> first part, well now you know!
> 
> 
> So, put another log on the fire & ...
> 
> Steve Dawes
> Phone: (403) 268-5527
> Email: SDawes at calgary.ca
> 
> 
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