It's an urban myth. The Oxford English Dictionary does not record the term "monkey" or "brass monkey" being used in this way.But what has the Messing/Brass plate for the cannonballs to do with a monkey??
It's an urban myth. The Oxford English Dictionary does not record the term "monkey" or "brass monkey" being used in this way.
The purported method of storage of cannonballs ("round shot") is simply false. The 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. Furthermore, such a method of storage would result in shot rolling around on deck and causing a hazard in high seas. The 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 was inserted for ready use by the gun crew. 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. 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. The reference is most likely a humorous reference to emphasise how cold it is. Such is the colloquial terms in English. It's not unlike a lady who tells you that she needs to powder her nose. It means that she needs to pee.
Whenever my mother is in a restaurant and needs to go to the toilet, she always says "I need to go see Mrs. Jones." I always wondered who she was, and why she always hung around in public bathrooms.
My dad had a very elderly aunt Ruth who always went to see "Mrs. Murphy." That was probably in the early 70s and she was in her late 80s.
Aunt Ruth (as well as my grandfather) actually went to school in the house I grew up in, which had been a one-room school house.
You're polite, in the East End of London they tend to: "Point Percy at the porcelain."For men, it's "I need to see a man about a dog." Or horse, in more rural areas.
You don't hear piddle much these days.My English grandfather would say he had to Jimmy, as in 'Jimmy Riddle', i.e. 'piddle'.
But what has the Messing/Brass plate for the cannonballs to do with a monkey??
It's an urban myth. The Oxford English Dictionary does not record the term "monkey" or "brass monkey" being used in this way.
The purported method of storage of cannonballs ("round shot") is simply false. The 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. Furthermore, such a method of storage would result in shot rolling around on deck and causing a hazard in high seas. The 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 was inserted for ready use by the gun crew. 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. 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. The reference is most likely a humorous reference to emphasise how cold it is. Such is the colloquial terms in English. It's not unlike a lady who tells you that she needs to powder her nose. It means that she needs to pee.
One of my favourite TV shows as a kid was "F Troop" with Ken Berry. There were many scenes of Berry, the Chief and the tribe's medicine man. The medicine man would solemnly spout supposed wise, prescient phrases to which Berry would look at the Chief and ask what it meant.....The Chief always shrugged and said words to the effect..."I have no idea.". To me that was always the funniest thing I had ever seen on TV. It never failed to ignite laughter even when I knew what was coming, knew the punch line...no matter, it was always the funniest thing ever.