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What is the meaning of

Posted by James Briggs on September 24, 2000

In Reply to: What is the meaning of posted by Dean Richardson on September 24, 2000

: What is the meaning and origin of:
: Cold enough to freeze the balls of a brass monkey

We've had this one before. Here's my version!
It's cold enough to freeze the balls from a brass monkey is an expression with slightly genital overtones used to describe very cold weather. The truth is quite different. In the old wooden Men-of-War the powder was taken from the powder magazine to the gun decks by young boys. These boys were frequently orphans or waifs taken off the streets. The passages and stairs along which they carried the powder were so narrow that only boys, and not men, could get through. They were known as "powder monkeys"; the cannon balls were stored in brass rings near the guns themselves. By analogy these rings were called "brass monkeys". On cold days they would contract with the result that the cannon balls would be squeezed out of the ring - hence the saying.

See also - the meaning and origin of 'Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey'.

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