Origins & Etymologies

The phrase "cold enough to freeze the balls off of a brass monkey" in modern usage means
its bloody cold out there.  The etymology of this phrase is also from the old sailing days.

Iron cannon balls would be stored on the gun deck in brass trays with holes for the 
cannon balls to rest.  These trays were called "monkeys".  When it would get very cold
the iron cannon balls would roll out of the trays more easily.  This is due to the 
difference in 'coefficient of thermal expansion' between iron and brass.  The size of the 
iron cannon balls would be larger relative to the size of the hole in the brass monkey,
thus making it easier for the cannon ball to roll out of its resting place.  Therefor, 
when it got really cold the cannon balls would be rolling around on the gun deck.
This condition became know as "cold enough to freeze the balls off of the brass monkey".

The etymology of the phrase "powder monkey" also is from the old sailing days.

The ceiling of gun decks on the old sailing ships were only about 3-4 feet high.
To move around down there one had to waddle around like a duck.
When the gunners moved small kegs of gun powder around they would carry one under 
each arm.  So, when they were carrying two powder kegs under each arm while waddling
around, they looked like monkeys.  Thus, they were called "powder monkeys".

The phrase "three sheets to the wind" in modern usage refers to someone who is a bit crazy.

The etymology of this phrase is from the old sailing days when a captain would order all
three main sails to be raised.  As this was a bit dangerous and risky, the crew would 
think that the captain was crazy for giving such an order.  This is how this phrase
came into modern usage.

How Specs Live Forever 

The US Standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That's  
an exceedingly odd number. Why was that gauge used? Because that's the way they built them 
in England, and the US railroads were built by English expatriates. Why did the English    
people build them like that? Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who
built the pre-railroad tramways, and that's the gauge they used.                           

Why did "they" use that gauge then? Because the people who built the tramways used the same
jigs and tools that they used for building wagons, which used that wheel spacing. Okay! Why
did the wagons use that odd wheel spacing? Well, if they tried to use any other spacing the
wagons would break on some of the old, long distance roads, because that's the spacing of  
the old wheel ruts.                                                                        

So who built these old rutted roads? The first long distance roads in Europe were built by  
Imperial Rome for the benefit of their legions. The roads have been used ever since. And   
the ruts? The initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their  
wagons, were first made by Roman war chariots. Since the chariots were made for or by      
Imperial Rome they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing.                          

Thus, we have the answer to the original questions. The United State standard railroad     
gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches derives from the original specification  for an Imperial Roman 
army war chariot.  Specs and Bureaucracies live forever. So, the next time you are handed a
specification and wonder what horse's ass came up with it, you may be exactly right.       
Because the Imperial Roman chariots were made to be just wide enough to accommodate the    
back-ends of two war horses.