Brass monkey (colloquialism)

This article is about the colloquial expression. For other uses of the term, see Brass monkey (disambiguation).

The Brass Monkey of Stanthorpe, Queensland - the place known for its "brass monkey weather", complete with a set of balls

The phrase "cold enough to freeze the balls off (or on) a brass monkey" is a colloquial expression used by some English speakers. The reference to the testes (as the term balls is commonly understood to mean) of the brass monkey appears to be a 20th century variant on the expression, prefigured by a range of references to other body parts, especially the nose and tail.

Early recorded uses of the expression

Early references to "brass monkeys" in the 19th century have no references to balls at all, but instead variously say that it is cold enough to freeze the tail, nose, ears, and whiskers off a brass monkey; or hot enough to "scald the throat" or "singe the hair" of a brass monkey. All of these variations imply that an actual monkey is the subject of the metaphor.

• The first recorded use of the phrase "brass monkey" appears in the humorous essay "On Enjoying Life" by Eldridge Gerry Paige (writing under the pseudonym "Dow, Jr."), published in the Sunday Mercury (New York) and republished in the book Short Patent Sermons by Dow, Jr. (New York, 1845):

When you love, [...] your heart, hands, feet and flesh are as cold and senseless as the toes of a brass monkey in winter.

• The second published instance of the phrase appeared in 1847, in a portion of Herman Melville's autobiographical narrative Omoo:

"It was so excessively hot in this still, brooding valley, shut out from the Trades, and only open toward the leeward side of the island, that labor in the sun was out of the question. To use a hyperbolical phrase of Shorty's, 'It was 'ot enough to melt the nose h'off a brass monkey.'"

• The first recorded use of freezing a "brass monkey" dates from 1857, appearing in C.A. Abbey, Before the Mast, p. 108: "It would freeze the tail off a brass monkey".

• The Story of Waitstill Baxter, by Kate Douglas Wiggin (1913) has "The little feller, now, is smart's a whip, an' could talk the tail off a brass monkey".

• The Ivory Trail, by Talbot Mundy (1919) has "He has the gall of a brass monkey".

• Thomas Wolfe (1900–1938) wrote in one of his notebooks:

Ernest said, "It would freeze the balls off a brass monkey — that's how cold it gets."

Supposed etymology

It is often stated that the phrase originated from the use of a brass tray, called a "monkey", to hold cannonballs on warships in the 16th to 18th centuries. Supposedly, in very cold temperatures the "monkey" would contract, causing the balls to fall off. However, nearly all historians and etymologists consider this story to be an urban legend. This story has been discredited by the U.S. Department of the Navy, etymologist Michael Quinion, and the Oxford English Dictionary (OED).

They give five main reasons:

1. The OED does not record the term "monkey" or "brass monkey" being used in this way.
2. The purported method of storage of cannonballs ("round shot") is simply false. Shot was not stored on deck continuously on the off-chance that the ship might go into battle. Indeed, decks were kept as clear as possible.
3. Furthermore, such a method of storage would result in shot rolling around on deck and causing a hazard in high seas. Shot was stored on the gun or spar decks, in shot racks—longitudinal wooden planks with holes bored into them, known as shot garlands in the Royal Navy, into which round shot were inserted for ready use by the gun crew.
4. Shot was not left exposed to the elements where it could rust. Such rust could lead to the ball not flying true or jamming in the barrel and exploding the gun. Indeed, gunners would attempt to remove as many imperfections as possible from the surfaces of balls.
5. The physics does not stand up to scrutiny. The contraction of both balls and plate over the range of temperatures involved would not be particularly large. The effect claimed possibly could be reproduced under laboratory conditions with objects engineered to a high precision for this purpose, but it is unlikely it would ever have occurred in real life aboard a warship.

Other uses of the phrase

Cunard

The "brass monkey" is the nickname of the house flag of the Cunard Line, adopted in 1878, a lion rampant or on a field gules holding a globe. The reference is almost certainly irreverent humour, rather than a source of the expression, of which variants predate it.

Beverage

A "brass monkey" is one of any number of citrus-flavored alcoholic drinks. In 1986, the hiphop band the Beastie Boys released a single called "Brass Monkey" from their album Licensed to Ill, although the song's lyrics are focused on the drink of the same name.

Inventions

US patent 4634021 describes "A release mechanism is disclosed for releasing an object such as a ball from a body under the force of gravity. A bimetallic element obstructs or opens an opening in the body for retaining or releasing the object depending upon the temperature of the bimetallic element. The release mechanism may be incorporated into a novelty "brass monkey" for "emasculating" the monkey when the temperature decreases to a predetermined temperature at which the balls in the "brass monkey" are permitted to drop to a base which is designed to produce an audible sound when struck by the balls."

Midnight's Children

In Midnight's Children, the protagonist's little sister is nicknamed the Brass Monkey because of her personality and hair. ( see List of Midnight's Children characters)

Other uses

Currently, 3rd Platoon of C Company, 1/503 IN (ABN) of the 173rd ABCT refer to themselves as the Brass Monkeys.

A racehorse named "Brass Monkey" is buried in the infield of Rockingham Park in Salem, New Hampshire.

References

• Oxford University Press. "binnacle". The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. Retrieved April 5, 2009.
• Dr. Peter Mark Roget. "monkey". Roget's Thesaurus (1911). Retrieved April 5, 2009.* Michael Quinion. "Brass Monkey weather". World Wide Words. Retrieved July 21, 2005.
• "Brass Monkeyshines". Urban Legends Reference Pages. Retrieved July 21, 2005. itself citing
  • Beavis, Bill (1994). Salty Dog Talk: The Nautical Origins of Everyday Expressions. New York: Sheridan House. ISBN 0-924486-82-1.
  • Isil, Olivia A. (1996). When a Loose Cannon Flogs a Dead Horse, There's the Devil to Pay. Camden, ME: International Marine. ISBN 0-07-032877-3. Pages 23–24
  • King, Dean (1995). A Sea of Words. New York: Henry Holt. ISBN 0-8050-3816-7.
  • Lighter, J.E. (1997). Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang. New York: Random House. ISBN 0-679-43464-X.
  • The Compact Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1993. ISBN 0-19-861258-3.
• "The Brass Monkey Motorcycle Rally". Retrieved June 17, 2008.
• "Brass Monkeys". The Phrase Finder. Retrieved July 21, 2005. itself citing
  • Cassidy, Frederick G. and Joan Houston Hall eds. (1996). Dictionary of American Regional English. vol.3. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help) page 642
  • Wilfred Granville (1962). A Dictionary of Sailors' Slang. London: Andre Deutch. page 77
  • Peter Kemp ed. (1976). Oxford Companion to Ships & the Sea. New York: Oxford University; Press. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help) page 556
  • The Oxford English Dictionary. New York: Oxford University Press. 1933.
  • J.E. Lighter, as cited by Snopes
  • Eric Partridge. A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English 8th ed. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. page 917
  • Longridge, C. Nepean (1981). The Anatomy of Nelson's Ships. Annapolis MD: Naval Institute Press. page 64
  • The Visual Dictionary of Ships and Sailing. New York: Dorling Kindersley. 1991. page 17
  • Rogers, John (1984). Origins of Sea Terms. Mystic CT: Mystic Seaport Museum. page 23
• "What's the origin of the term "brass monkey"?". AskOxford: Ask the experts. Retrieved July 21, 2005.