# Is it possible to freeze your cojones off? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [February 25, 2011, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-freeze-your-cojones-off/572568 "2011-02-25T09:36:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Villies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/85f322/32.png) [@Villies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Villies)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-freeze-your-cojones-off/572568/1 "2011-02-25T09:36:44Z")
While I have no medical knowledge to contribute to the answer, I must note that the expression : “Cold enough to freeze/shake the balls off a brass monkey” comes from the yesteryears of powder canons. The monkey is a brass contraption which held a pyramid of 9 balls stacked neatly. When the temperatures would drop the metal would shrink, and sometimes knock over the canon balls as the diameter of the slots shrunk. Hence, it was cold enough to shake the balls off a brass monkey. This proverbial phrase was probably hobson-jobsonned into common language, stating that one’s finest part of the anatomy was being gambled in that wintry excursion. Best: Alex ---
**Author:** ![Indian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-freeze-your-cojones-off/572568/2 "2011-02-25T09:50:51Z")
Link to the [column.](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2983/is-it-possible-to-freeze-your-cojones-off) ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-freeze-your-cojones-off/572568/3 "2011-02-25T09:52:59Z")
[snopes is of a different opinion](http://www.snopes.com/language/stories/brass.asp). ---
**Author:** ![Villies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/85f322/32.png) [@Villies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Villies)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-freeze-your-cojones-off/572568/4 "2011-02-25T10:01:19Z")
> [@Floater](#): > > [snopes is of a different opinion](http://www.snopes.com/language/stories/brass.asp). Whether or not the etymology was pure invention weaved into the history of language, it still denotes this particular item. Much like “Son of a gun” or “Fairy dust”, the latter being a story of fantasy. Semantics, a play of words, a piece of poetry. ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-freeze-your-cojones-off/572568/5 "2011-02-25T17:01:45Z")
> [@Villies](#): > > Whether or not the etymology was pure invention weaved into the history of language, it still denotes this particular item. What still denotes what particular item? ‘Brass monkey’ denotes a cannonball holder? No, it really doesn’t. Not according to [the U.S. Navy](http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq107.htm), and [the Oxford English Dictionary](http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/page/187). Cannonballs were kept in [shot garlands](http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definitions/Shot+garland?cx=partner-pub-0939450753529744%3Av0qd01-tdlq&cof=FORID%3A9&ie=UTF-8&q=Shot+garland&sa=Search#906). Unless you have a contrary cite? ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-freeze-your-cojones-off/572568/6 "2011-02-25T19:02:32Z")
Satirical pieces taken as fact aside, this is one of the stronger columns of recent years. Well done, Cecil. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-freeze-your-cojones-off/572568/7 "2011-02-25T20:36:32Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > Satirical pieces taken as fact aside, this is one of the stronger columns of recent years. Well done, Cecil. I wholeheartedly agree – not to mention a great companion illustration. Ol’ Slug’s still got it! ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2011, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-freeze-your-cojones-off/572568/8 "2011-02-26T01:22:24Z")
Note what Evan Morris (the Word Detective) has to say on brass monkeys: [Carats, Chum, Doozies, Going Down?, Cut and Dried and Some Very Cold Brass Monkeys.](http://www.word-detective.com/back-r.html#monkeys) and [Issue of November 16, 2006 -- Page 3](http://www.word-detective.com/111606C.html#brassmonkey06) ---
**Author:** ![uncle\_squeegee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b5e925/32.png) [@uncle\_squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/uncle_squeegee)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2011, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-freeze-your-cojones-off/572568/9 "2011-02-26T18:03:22Z")
A slight tangent… In college, I hung out with a guy who had been in the Army. At one point he’d been stationed in Alaska; one on training maneuver he got penile frostbite. He went to the medic, who examined the offended organ, looked at my pal, and said “Looks like we’re going to have to amputate” waited a beat, then laughed at my pal’s shocked expression. ---
**Author:** ![xoferew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/e9a140/32.png) [@xoferew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xoferew)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2011, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-freeze-your-cojones-off/572568/10 "2011-02-26T21:07:07Z")
Yikes! I assume he pulled it out to pee? What happens when you get frostbite down there? Maybe the army needs to issue penis mittens. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2011, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-freeze-your-cojones-off/572568/11 "2011-02-26T21:30:16Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > Note what Evan Morris (the Word Detective) has to say on brass monkeys: [http://www.word-detective.com/back-r.html#monkeys](http://www.word-detective.com/back-r.html#monkeys) and [http://www.word-detective.com/111606C.html#brassmonkey06](http://www.word-detective.com/111606C.html#brassmonkey06) [Here’s a picture of a set of the brass monkeys he mentions in those articles.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Three_wise_monkeys_figure.JPG) Most of the ones I’ve seen the monkeys are separate, though I suppose that set may simply be stuck together by the fairly major oxidization… ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2011, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-freeze-your-cojones-off/572568/12 "2011-02-26T22:25:56Z")
I once saw, for sale in a mail order catalog, an actual brass monkey who’s balls would fall off at a certain low temperature. I wished I could have gotten one, but as I recall it was for some ridiculously high price. ---
**Author:** ![RnBram](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ba8739/32.png) [@RnBram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RnBram)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-freeze-your-cojones-off/572568/13 "2011-02-28T14:56:27Z")
A search of Google Images for “Shot Garlands” shows cannon balls both above and below decks, on a variety of old warships. They were made of wood or brass. (On deck garlands were probably only stocked when the need for shot was imminent.) An explanation (that also deals with “Brass Monkey”) is provided in a comment half way down this [Fine Scale Modeler web page](http://cs.finescale.com/FSMCS/forums/p/86586/1090398.aspx). Maybe Snopes could update their explanation, with images. ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-freeze-your-cojones-off/572568/14 "2011-03-04T11:37:52Z")
The explanation also doesn’t hold water from simple physics. The coefficient of expansion of brass is 0.00185% per degree K whilst cast iron is roughly half that. So a brass frame will shrink faster than the iron balls it holds, but the difference is such that the frame would shrink relative to the balls by only about 0.1% over a one hundred degree K range. Which is vastly wider than even the most desperate desert heat to Arctic cold. The idea that a brass frame would shrink enough to affect its geometry holding cannon balls is just fanciful. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-freeze-your-cojones-off/572568/15 "2011-03-04T22:36:50Z")
Frankly, I don’t find a picture of a _model_ of unknown provenance as proof of anything. Certainly not that sailors called those things “brass monkeys”. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-freeze-your-cojones-off/572568/16 "2011-03-04T23:01:30Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > [Here’s a picture of a set of the brass monkeys he mentions in those articles.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Three_wise_monkeys_figure.JPG) > > Most of the ones I’ve seen the monkeys are separate, though I suppose that set may simply be stuck together by the fairly major oxidization… I’ve seen similar ones that have exaggerated male genitals (some sort of fertility fetish I think). Not sure that such examples predate the reference of balls freezing off, but the ones I saw looked quite old. ---
**Author:** ![robriskus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@robriskus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robriskus)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-freeze-your-cojones-off/572568/17 "2011-04-20T17:37:55Z")
old sailing term ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-freeze-your-cojones-off/572568/18 "2011-04-20T21:31:26Z")
No it’s not. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2011, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-freeze-your-cojones-off/572568/19 "2011-04-21T08:47:04Z")
> [@Francis\_Vaughan](#): > > … over a one hundred degree K range … [nitpick] There is no such thing as a _degree_ K. The basic unit for measuring temperature is one kelvin. [/nitpick] ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2011, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-freeze-your-cojones-off/572568/20 "2011-04-21T17:33:21Z")
> [@Floater](#): > > [nitpick] > There is no such thing as a _degree_ K. The basic unit for measuring temperature is one kelvin. > [/nitpick] Only since 1967. Some of us were educated before then. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-freeze-your-cojones-off/572568.md?page=2)