# Just saying, origins



## begreen (Jul 27, 2012)

Today I learned the meaning of the old saying: "Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey" and it was not anything like I would have thought.The origin is from the days of sailing ships and cannonballs.

"In the heyday of sailing ships, all war ships and many freighters carried iron cannons. Those cannon fired round iron cannon balls. It was necessary to keep a good supply near the cannon. But how to prevent them from rolling about the deck? The best storage method devised was a square based pyramid with one ball on top, resting on four resting on nine which rested on sixteen. Thus, a supply of thirty cannon balls could be stacked in a small area right next to the cannon. There was only one problem -- how to prevent the bottom layer from sliding/rolling from under the others. The solution was a metal plate called a "Monkey" with sixteen round indentations. But, if this plate was made of iron, the iron balls would quickly rust to it. The solution to the rusting problem was to make "Brass Monkeys." Few landlubbers realize that brass contracts much more and much faster than iron when chilled. Consequently, when the temperature dropped too far, the brass indentations would shrink so much that the iron cannon balls would come right off the monkey. Thus, it was quite literally, "Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey!""


What other interesting sayings do you know the origins of?


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## firebroad (Jul 27, 2012)

Here's one--

*catty-corner* – directional word, meaning that something is diagonally across from something else–another “cat” word that has nothing to do with cats. Originally _cater-corner_. The _cater_ is from an English dialect word meaning “to set or move diagonally.” Because that _cater_ dropped out of the language, folk etymology got busy and now we have all kinds of “cat” variants for this concept:
catty-cornered
kitty-corner
kitty-cornered
catty-corner
cat-a-corner
kitty-corner
kit-a-corner


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## Delta-T (Jul 27, 2012)

balls to the wall, or balls out - from the certigugal governing system on steam engines...as the engines increased in spead the weighted balls on the governer would swing outward. At maximum the balls would be horizontal (mounted on a vertical shaft)....balls out.


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## Adios Pantalones (Jul 27, 2012)

begreen said:


> Today I learned the meaning of the old saying: "Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey" and it was not anything like I would have thought.The origin is from the days of sailing ships and cannonballs.
> 
> "In the heyday of sailing ships, all war ships and many freighters carried iron cannons. Those cannon fired round iron cannon balls. It was necessary to keep a good supply near the cannon. But how to prevent them from rolling about the deck? The best storage method devised was a square based pyramid with one ball on top, resting on four resting on nine which rested on sixteen. Thus, a supply of thirty cannon balls could be stacked in a small area right next to the cannon. There was only one problem -- how to prevent the bottom layer from sliding/rolling from under the others. The solution was a metal plate called a "Monkey" with sixteen round indentations. But, if this plate was made of iron, the iron balls would quickly rust to it. The solution to the rusting problem was to make "Brass Monkeys." Few landlubbers realize that brass contracts much more and much faster than iron when chilled. Consequently, when the temperature dropped too far, the brass indentations would shrink so much that the iron cannon balls would come right off the monkey. Thus, it was quite literally, "Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey!""
> 
> ...


 
That's an urban legend- sorry


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## fossil (Jul 27, 2012)

Yup, sorry.

http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq107.htm


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## begreen (Jul 27, 2012)

So it's just a good story. Ah well. I was wondering why they wouldn't just keep the cannonballs in a box or a rack.


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## begreen (Jul 27, 2012)

Here's another one:

Wrong End of the Stick

It is a popular belief that in Roman times, where sewage systems were quite advanced, toilet paper had not been invented yet. So, a long wooden stick, with a sponge on one end, was used to wipe fecal matter off the bottoms of Romans. The sponge and stick were used numerous times by different people. (Deadly diseases weren’t discovered or known about at the time.) If one grabbed the stick by the wrong end, they would accidentally get the fecal matter from all those people on their hands. The birth of the phrase “grabbing the stick from the wrong end” occurred during this period.

11 Surprisingly Bizarre Origins of Common Sayings | Suite101.com​ http://suite101.com/article/11-surprisingly-bizarre-origins-of-common-sayings-a256252#ixzz21rQXDVuJ​


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## Blue Vomit (Jul 28, 2012)

Cliff Claven, please report to the inglenook. You are needed here ASAP.


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## BrotherBart (Jul 28, 2012)

"GAMMA rays are from GaMaL in that the third Greek letter is named for Hebrew's 3rd letter, the GIMEL, which is named for the GAMAL (camel)"


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## GAMMA RAY (Jul 28, 2012)

BrotherBart said:


> "GAMMA rays are from GaMaL in that the third Greek letter is named for Hebrew's 3rd letter, the GIMEL, which is named for the GAMAL (camel)"


 
Holy frig...ya learn something new everyday...I did not even know that....

camel....


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## begreen (Jul 28, 2012)

I like the spiritual meaning better:

Our Sages teach that the _gimel_ symbolizes a rich man running after a poor man, the _dalet_, to give him charity. The word _gimel_ is derived from the word _gemul_, which in Hebrew means both the giving of reward as well as the giving of punishment. In Torah, both reward and punishment have the same ultimate aim the rectification of the soul to merit to receive God's light to the fullest extent.

http://www.inner.org/hebleter/gimmel.htm


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## neumsky (Jul 28, 2012)

Delta-T said:


> balls to the wall, or balls out - from the certigugal governing system on steam engines...as the engines increased in spead the weighted balls on the governer would swing outward. At maximum the balls would be horizontal (mounted on a vertical shaft)....balls out.


They utilize this methodology also in Prop governors in airplanes. Cool!


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## Jags (Jul 30, 2012)

"and the whole 9 yards"

The length of the WWII aircraft machine gun belts.  "So I gave them the whole 9 yards..."


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## Jags (Jul 30, 2012)

I will give a digital dollar to anybody that can verify or come up with the answer for:
"a stitch in time saves 9"


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## begreen (Jul 30, 2012)

Jags said:


> I will give a digital dollar to anybody that can verify or come up with the answer for:
> "a stitch in time saves 9"


 
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/a-stitch-in-time.html


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## Jags (Jul 30, 2012)

begreen said:


> http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/a-stitch-in-time.html


 
I have seen that explanation before, but nobody (that I am aware of) can really come up with the origin. Maybe it is just one of the old "proverbs" that has been handed down many times? Dunno.


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