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You are here: Home / Article topics / Publications / Naval Historical Review / Letters – Brass Monkeys

Letters – Brass Monkeys

Letter Writer · Mar 21, 2009 · Print This Page

Author
Letter Writer
Subjects
Early warships
Tags
Brass Monkey
RAN Ships
None noted.
Publication
March 2009 edition of the Naval Historical Review (all rights reserved)

5.  I have also seen writers claim that seawater sloshes into the monkey and when it freezes the water expands and pushes the balls off. This is just as much rubbish. Water expands by about 9% when it freezes, so water freezing in a 10 mm deep depression in the monkey would lift the balls by about 1 mm. How will this make them fall off? They’d be frozen to the ice for a start. It is all nonsense.

 

In summary, the expression ‘cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey’ is a crude variant of an old expression and has nothing to do with cannonballs and mythical brass monkeys.

 

Sincerely,

 

Dr Richard Walding

Research Fellow

School of Biomolecular and Physical Sciences

Griffith University, Brisbane.
Member, Naval Historical Society

Pages: Page 1 Page 2

Naval Historical Review, Early warships Brass Monkey

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