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Pastimes : Laughter is the Best Medicine - Tell us a joke -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: E. Charters who wrote (32930)	1/17/2005 10:20:54 PM
From: High Grader	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 62569

Once again we have the brass monkey debate going full bore (pun intended.) Actually the expression originated in an obscure abby in Quebec that was run by an Order of Laurentian Monks. The head monk was was one bishop Hugh De Flores who ruled the order in 1732. The winter of 1732 was exceptionally cold and Father Hugh sent one of the monks to the wine cellar to get a bottle of brandy to go with the evening meal. The cellar was well stocked and it was secured against thieves by a stout brass lock. Father Hugh possessed the only key, also made out of brass. The junior monk had to go outside of the abby and along a winding path to the building where the wine cellar was located. It was 40 below. (Celsius and fahrenheit are the same at 40 below both are ...#*ing frigid,as anyone in Canada can attest.) Well poor junior monk froze while out on this errand and hence the expression, "Cold enough to freeze the balls off a monk, brass key and all." The translation of this incident from the the original French to English transposed the noun and adjective adjective. The French version referred to the key as un clef bras, French often puts the adjective behind the noun. (Another example, the French for a a red house is maison rouge.) So, the word for word translation into English lead to the expression cold enough to freeze the balls off a monk brass key. That made no sense in English so the words were rearranged in Anglo Saxon logical sequence and we have "Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monk key and all." Now that's apocryphal! Father Hugh it will be recalled was later to invent Smokey the Bear. However, that is another story about how Canada has attempted to give culture to North America but only seen our hockey and beer embraced by those south of us. I will only tell that if the begging is voluminous. OJ Q.Why is drinking American beer like making love in a canoe? A. It is f#&ing near water.