Always interested in finding out how old adages, terms and phrases came to be...
For example: It's brass monkeys outside!
This derives from old naval times of ships and canons. Brass monkeys used to hold the canonballs on ships and when the brass got particularly cold it would shrink causing the cannonballs to fall off... hence the expression, cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey, which led to cold as brass monkeys. 
What have you got? |
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By *emini ManMan
over a year ago
There and to the left a bit |
"Always interested in finding out how old adages, terms and phrases came to be...
For example: It's brass monkeys outside!
This derives from old naval times of ships and canons. Brass monkeys used to hold the canonballs on ships and when the brass got particularly cold it would shrink causing the cannonballs to fall off... hence the expression, cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey, which led to cold as brass monkeys.
What have you got?"
I used to love that one - till (and I hate to pay this on) someone on here confirmed that it had been proven scientifically impossible |
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"Always interested in finding out how old adages, terms and phrases came to be...
For example: It's brass monkeys outside!
This derives from old naval times of ships and canons. Brass monkeys used to hold the canonballs on ships and when the brass got particularly cold it would shrink causing the cannonballs to fall off... hence the expression, cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey, which led to cold as brass monkeys.
What have you got?
I used to love that one - till (and I hate to pay this on) someone on here confirmed that it had been proven scientifically impossible "
 damn haha. Well I'm standing by it, its written in the history books  |
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So being "piss poor", comes from a time where urine was used to tan animal skins. You would piss in a pot and sell it and that was your means of "surviving". If you didn't have a pot then you were so poor you "didn't have a pot to piss in". |
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By *emini ManMan
over a year ago
There and to the left a bit |
"Always interested in finding out how old adages, terms and phrases came to be...
For example: It's brass monkeys outside!
This derives from old naval times of ships and canons. Brass monkeys used to hold the canonballs on ships and when the brass got particularly cold it would shrink causing the cannonballs to fall off... hence the expression, cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey, which led to cold as brass monkeys.
What have you got?
I used to love that one - till (and I hate to pay this on) someone on here confirmed that it had been proven scientifically impossible
damn haha. Well I'm standing by it, its written in the history books "
Sadly not - take a look at Wiki there are several creditable references to why the claims are dubious |
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By *emini ManMan
over a year ago
There and to the left a bit |
"So being "piss poor", comes from a time where urine was used to tan animal skins. You would piss in a pot and sell it and that was your means of "surviving". If you didn't have a pot then you were so poor you "didn't have a pot to piss in". "
In a similar vein (to make up for ruining brass monkeys for you) the term loo (for toilet) derives from Norman times when French was the predominant language and urine would be thrown out of the window into the street - to warn passers by to watch out the shout "Guardez l'eau" (mind the water) would be made - this got contracted down the years to "loo" as we know it today. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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Not enough room to swing a cat is another nautical saying from when they used to punish people on ship by flogging them with the Cat 'o' Nine Tails bit the room they used was to small to swing it.
Also add to this "letting the cat out of the bag" |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"The word Bungalow comes from when some mathematically challenged builders started to build a house, but didn't order enough bricks.
They had to bung a low roof on it  "
 Comes from Gujarati word bangalo |
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