| 释义 |
brass monkeysExtremely cold, usually regarding the weather. Taken from the semi-vulgar phrase, "cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey," or its derivative, "brass monkey weather." Primarily heard in UK. Cor, it's brass monkeys out there tonight! ˌbrass ˈmonkeys, ˌbrass ˈmonkey weather (British English, slang) if you say that it is brass monkeys or brass monkey weather, you mean that it is very cold weather: Wear a hat — it’s brass monkeys out there!The full expression is ‘cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey’, although this is not often used. It may refer to a brass rack called a monkey which was used to store cannonballs. When it was very cold, the brass contracted (= got smaller) and the balls fell off. |