I found it humerous

In the heyday of sailing ships, all war ships and many freighters carried iron cannons. Those cannon fired round iron cannon balls. It was necessary to keep a good supply near the cannon.
But how to prevent them from rolling about the deck?

The best storage method devised was a square based pyramid with one ball on top, resting on four, resting on nine, which rested on sixteen. Thus, a supply of 30 cannon balls could be stacked in a small area right next to the cannon.

There was only one problem-how to prevent the bottom layer from sliding/rolling from under the others.

The solution was a metal plate called a “Monkey” with 16 round indentations. But if this plate were made of iron, the iron balls would quickly rust to it.

The solution to the rusting problem was to make “Brass Monkeys.” Few landlubbers realize that brass contracts much more and much faster than iron when chilled.
Consequently, when the temperature dropped too far, the brass indentations would shrink so much that the iron cannon balls would come right off
Thus, it was quite literally, “Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey!” (And all this time, you thought that was an improper _expression, didn’t you?)

Me Solomon Grundy

Urban legend:
http://www.snopes.com/language/stories/brass.htm

Brass Monkey…that funky monkey.

I had to do it for the beastie boy.

Him Soloman Grundy

Me like.

Here is one I believe to be true:
“The whole nine yards”

This phrase started in WWII. The P-51 Mustang held 27ft. of belted ammunition or 9 yards for it’s machine guns. A pilot who really blasted a German out of the sky would say he “gave him the whole nine yards”.