Yes, me too. The idea was that in cold weather, the cumulative
contraction of the cast iron cannonballs made the pyramid loose on the
brass stand to the point where the rolling of the ship would collapse
it.
time to check that one on Snopes i suspect.
AndrewF
On 05/03/2005, at 8:43 AM, Jon Mitchell wrote:
>
> I believe the expression "cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass
> monkey" came from some very old nautical piece of equipment. The brass
> monkey was, I believe, a bit like the triangle used in Snooker (or
> pool)
> to arrange the balls at the start of the game. Only the Brass Monkey
> was for storing cannonballs, in a pyramid shape.
>
> At least, that's what I was told years ago.
>
> Jon
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