An 1838 sighting of the "brass monkey" expression

[victor steinbok]

Funny, just a week ago I asked a friend how old the expression "cool as a
cucumber" might be.

VS-)

On Sat, Aug 27, 2011 at 10:25 AM, Bonnie Taylor-Blake <
b.taylorblake at gmail.com> wrote:

>
> 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
>

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