An 1838 sighting of the "brass monkey" expression

[Bonnie Taylor-Blake]

The OED cites Melville's 1847 use of "It was 'ot enough to melt the
nose h'off a brass monkey" as a very early instance of the use of this
"brass monkey" expression.

For what it's worth, here's one from 1838:

Old Knites was as cool as a cucumber, and would have been so
independent of the weather, which was cold enough to freeze the nose
off of a brass monkey.

(From "Stray Leaves from a Straggler's Note Book:  A Heroic Woman and
a Womanish Hero," *The Morning Herald* [New York, New York], 30 May
1838, p. 2.)

-- Bonnie

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org