英语词汇cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey的起源、历史背景-英语词源词典

cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey. Here and in Australia the saying is as above; in Canada it is often the euphemistic freeze the ears off a brass monkey. Partridge indi- cates this is a late-19th-century Australian saying for very, very cold indeed, but I have heard others claim it for America and Ireland. Some say the “monkey” here is not the brass im- age of a monkey but a rack called the “monkey” used on wooden naval ships in the days of sail to hold cannonballs in place, to keep them from rolling all over the deck. But no one as yet has proved the existence of any rack called a “monkey,” one made of brass or anything else. And how cold weather could cause cannonballs to spill from a rack also remains to be explained.

词汇	cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey
词源	cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey. Here and in Australia the saying is as above; in Canada it is often the euphemistic freeze the ears off a brass monkey. Partridge indi- cates this is a late-19th-century Australian saying for very, very cold indeed, but I have heard others claim it for America and Ireland. Some say the “monkey” here is not the brass im- age of a monkey but a rack called the “monkey” used on wooden naval ships in the days of sail to hold cannonballs in place, to keep them from rolling all over the deck. But no one as yet has proved the existence of any rack called a “monkey,” one made of brass or anything else. And how cold weather could cause cannonballs to spill from a rack also remains to be explained.
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