Quiz Answers
By marc • Dec 28th, 2007 • Category: FeedbackHere’s the answers I came up with for the Salty Words Quiz. Leave a comment if you want to elaborate or contest these explanations.
Question 1 - Every sailing ship had to have cannon for protection. Cannon of the times required round iron cannonballs. The master wanted to store the cannonballs such that they could be of instant use when needed, yet not roll around the gun deck. The only real problem was how to keep the bottom level from sliding out from under the weight of the higher levels. To do this, they devised a small rust-proof brass plate (”brass monkey”) with one rounded indentation for each cannonball in the bottom layer.
When chilled, brass contracts faster than iron. As it got cold on the gun decks, the indentations in the brass monkey would get smaller than the iron cannonballs. When it got cold enough, the bottom layer would pop out of the indentations, spilling the cannon balls. Therefore it really was ”cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey”.
Question 2 - Starboard, O.E. steorbord, lit. “side on which a vessel was steered,” from steor- “rudder, steering paddle” + bord “ship’s side.” Cf. O.N. stjornborði, Low Ger. stürbord, Ger. Steuerbord. Early Germanic peoples’ boats were propelled and steered by a paddle on the right side.
Question 3 - The cat ‘o nine tails was normally kept in a cloth bag and was only pulled out immediately prior to flogging.
Question 4 - “Pipe down”. A boatswain’s call denoting the completion of an all hands evolution, and that you can go below.
Question 5 - Port, Meaning “left side of a ship” is attested from 1543, from notion of “the side facing the harbor” (when a ship is docked). It replaced larboard in common usage to avoid confusion with starboard.
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marc is
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I used to tell people the same story about brass monkeys, and indeed it seems to be a popular one, but the evidence is quite strong that the ship’s cannonballs story is not the correct etymology. Too bad, because it’s a great story, but it is only a story.
The ship’s cannonballs story is refuted in several places on the ‘net. Wikipedia is a good reference. The Oxford English Dictionary is a more-authoritative one, and snopes.com is a pretty good summary.
The only known problems with the cannonballs theory is that:
- cannonballs were not stored on deck in tetrahedronal stacks; rather they when on deck they were placed in wooden racks (shot garlands). The tetrahedron might serve well ashore, but it’s not a particularly useful stowage system at sea.
- the OED cites other anatomical parts for the phrase “cold enough to freeze the off a brass monkey. There did seem to be some references to brass monkeys, but none to my knowledge have been found in the context of the ship’s cannonballs story.
The popular story suggests that the cannonball trays were made of brass so as to prevent a problem with rust. Any naval vessel would indeed be concerned about rust, but for the cannonballs themselves and not so much for their trays. Rusty balls would make for diminished or dangerous performance, and so would not be routinely stored on an open deck in any event.
I used to like the ship’s cannonballs story and like I say I used to repeat it myself, but when I looked at it more closely I concluded, as have other researchers, that it’s just a popular fiction.
Regards,
— Eric
Your insight is much appreciated. It actually makes a good story better. Thanks!
Now, tell us, exactly what does “…freeze the balls off a brass monkey,” mean?
Capt. Marc
From the various references in the literature it seems that in the 19th century, a brass monkey was used in various metaphorical ways: talk the ears off a brass monkey, hot enough to melt the nose off a brass monkey, ld enough to freeze the tail off a brass monkey, and so forth. I’m guessing that the phrase was spiced up a bit by freezing the poor monkey’s balls off, but I can’t guess how the cannonball story came onto the scene.
Some historical fictions are rather pervasive. When I was a pup I was taught, in school no less, that Columbus challenged the common knowledge that the earth was flat. I learned much later, when I read a rather authoritative biography of Columbus, that the flat earth nonsense was a fabrication of the author Washington Irving. As I recall, he invented it to punch up a play, or some such, but the myth caught on and even today people believe the flat earth fiction with respect to Columbus.
Cheers,
— Eric