A bit of War history for ya...

[1024]

Got this in an e-mail today.

Betcha didn't know this!

In the heyday of sailing ships, all war ships and many freighters carried iron cannons. Those cannons fired round iron cannon balls. It was necessary to keep a good supply near the cannon, but they had to find a way 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 30 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 or rolling from under the others.

The solution was a metal plate called a "Monkey" with 16 round indentations. But, if this plate was made of iron, the iron balls quickly would 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". (And all this time, you thought that was an improper expression, didn't you?) You must send this fabulous bit of historical knowledge to unsuspecting friends. If you don't, your floppy is going to fall off your hard drive and kill your mouse!

SO THERE!!!!

[SkunkPunk]

hah suckers

[Neon Apocalypse]

ok......

[SkunkPunk]

Originally Posted by Neon Apocalypse

Skunk pwnz j00!

[martyr]

lose, again. sorry.

http://www.quinion.com/words/qa/qa-bra1.htm

[Happy lil Elf]

Cool. Always been a fan of useless trivia.

[SkunkPunk]

edited to nothingness

[1024]

Originally Posted by martyr

lose, again. sorry.

http://www.quinion.com/words/qa/qa-bra1.htm

I lose? How aobut the dumbass whole started the chain letter.

[martyr]

haha, i always used to flame anybody who sent me those things. i say "used to" because, well, everybody stopped.

now you posted 'em on here, and i have to see them again. blech. there's no way that a brass plate will contract enough to drop the shot, and it's annoying that people read this and believe it.

[1024]

who cares? does it really matter much if some guy out there is misinforming a select few of the general public on such a miniscule fact?

[Ivan]

You'll find a lot of sayings and phrases we use today come from old naval slang. One story I heard was for "Son of a Gun." It was that some sailors where able to bring their wives with them to sea and the family�s quarters where under the gun deck most of the time. If the wife gave birth to a boy at sea they where called son of a guns cause they really couldn't say "I'm from England" or "Spain" or where ever cause they where born at sea. And it turned into a degrading thing to say to someone. I tried to search that site martyr post and didn't find it. So I can't say it's true or not that's just the story I've heard.

[dscytherulez]

Indeed, I was going to say..."why didn't they just use wood for the plate?". And apparently they did.

[martyr]

here's what i find for son of a gun (which explains why it's a derisive term):

http://phrases.shu.ac.uk/meanings/327900.html

Origin
Women on board sailing ships sometimes had sex with sailors between the cannons. A male child born of such a union would be a son of a gun.

(to me means you wouldn't be sure of the father, thus the insult)

and 1024: i care. i have to deal with the "general public" and they're stupid and retarded and gullible enough as it is; it pisses me off when people actively make things worse for all of us.

[Corrosion]

ok......

[Seer]

I have to agree with martyr. It's fine to read it, be amused, and not really know the truth, but you really should verify things like this before dissemination. It's wrong to say that the person who started it bears the responsibility--everyone in the chain does.

I personally hate it when people pass on urban legends to me.