FOLK ETYMOLOGY
BRASS MONKEY USED WITH REFERENCE TO EXTREMELY COLD WEATHER. The term brass monkey is used to refer to extremely cold weather in expressions such as brass-monkey weather. This usage is derived from the hyperbolic phrase cold enough to freeze the nose (or the tail, the balls, etc.)
What kind of alcohol is brass monkey?
The Brass Monkey is a cocktail made with dark rum, vodka and orange juice, sold as a premixed cocktail in the 1970’s and 80’s. It was sold by the Heublein Company, which later dissolved in 1998.
Is brass monkey a beer?
In fact, the Brass Monkey they were rapping about was not orange juice and beer (or malt liquor), but a canned precursor to Smirnoff Ice.
How cold does it have to be to freeze the balls off a brass monkey?
If the base of the stack were one metre long, the drop in temperature needed to make the ‘monkey’ shrink relative to the balls by just one millimetre, would be around 100 degrees Celsius.
What is beer and orange juice called?
Brass Monkey beer cocktail
What is this? One version says it is a recipe made with orange juice and malt liquor, AKA beer. In other words, brass monkey is just another name for this beermosa.
Who invented the Brass Monkey?
Cool story, right? Unfortunately, it’s total bunk — the product of a 1971 ad campaign by the Heublein Company, a pre-mixed cocktail manufacturer popular in the 1970s and 80s. In reality, ad executives named the cocktail and cooked up the whole Rasske story from scratch.
What is a brass monkey 40 oz?
Beastie Boys fans were shocked this week when Mike D told WNYC’s Studio 360 that what the band was rapping about in their 1986 hit “Brass Monkey” was not, after all, a 40-ounce bottle of malt liquor mixed with orange juice.
Where did the saying come from freeze the balls off a brass monkey?
The expression: “It is cold enough to freeze the balls of a brass monkey” comes from the practice of putting iron cannon balls on a dimpled brass plate on the deck of a war-ship. When very cold the brass contracted sufficiently to cause the iron balls to fall out.
Where does the term monkey metal come from?
It is often stated that the phrase originated from the use of a brass tray, called a “monkey”, to hold cannonballs on warships in the 16th to 18th centuries. Supposedly, in very cold temperatures the “monkey” would contract, causing the balls to fall off.
Is it possible to freeze your balls off?
Like any other part of the body exposed to the elements, the testicles are susceptible to frostbite or hypothermia if the temperatures drop too low. As the air temperature falls to 5ºF (–15ºC) or colder, the risk of hypothermia to exposed skin increases significantly. Even covered areas of the body are at risk.
