Re: anyone uses those?



"apprentice" <mailpawel@xxxxx> wrote in message
news:8a7ca$4375032d$d4ba586d$30947@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> brass monkey weather British, very informal
> be cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey British, very
> informal!
> monkey business slightly informal
> a monkey on sb's back American & Australian

The first and second are virtually identical and are in current use,
as well as just abbrieviating to "it's brass" or "brassy". I doubt that
they are widely used in the States or Canada, but might be used
in Oz (tralia).

The third seems to be widely used in the States, as is the fourth,
although they may be occasionally used in the UK too.


.



Relevant Pages

  • anyone uses those?
    ... brass monkey weather British, very informal ... be cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey British, ...
    (uk.culture.language.english)
  • Re: anyone uses those?
    ... > apprentice wrote: ... >> brass monkey weather British, ...
    (uk.culture.language.english)
  • Re: anyone uses those?
    ... > brass monkey weather British, ... from the UK's naval history. ...
    (uk.culture.language.english)
  • Re: How to freeze the balls off a brass monkey
    ... >> the balls off a brass monkey" is a commonly used phrase. ... However there was a 'brass monkey' on ships. ... actually have the phrase as 'freeze the tail off a brass ...
    (sci.electronics.design)
  • Re: _OED_ online
    ... database of journals going back to 1838 and whose front door is as far ... It seems to be a well-established popular belief that British weather can become so cold as to emasculate any brass monkeys exposed to it. ... The phrase is widely used among men and sometimes even coyly alluded to in advertisements, for example: 'In a brass monkey ... In 1978 a Sheffield University lecturer propounded the theory that a ship's cannon balls were formerly stacked on brass trays known as monkeys, and that in cold weather a differential contraction occurred and the balls were ...
    (alt.usage.english)