CoolActually, I believe "balls to the wall" originated in aviation from the days of propellor driven aircraft…. all of the engine controls had a "ball" at the top end of the lever and pushing them all forward (to the wall of the instrument panel) as far as they would go was "max power"…..
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Do you have any idea what you’re sayin'?…..
- Thread starter JimmyJet
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Well, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle !!
Ackthually....
This is fairly easily debunked. It's just not true. First of all, shot was stored in racks that ran the length of the gun deck, below with the cannon. Secondly, the delta in temperature between brass and iron in terms of the brass "outshrinking" the iron and causing the shot to be squeezed out, doesn't add up. The physics just aren't there.
Now what is confusing is that there are mid 17th century naval references to a "monkey" but it is referring to a type of cannon and has nothing to do with how the shot is stored.
The expression you mentioned doesn't show up until mid 1980's. Which lines up with the Beastie Boys' album Licensed to Ill.
Holy cow, I think my mother used this old law on us.... Because she loved to take a fresh stick, no thicker than her small finger and whip our rear-end....
Ackthually....
This is fairly easily debunked. It's just not true. First of all, shot was stored in racks that ran the length of the gun deck, below with the cannon. Secondly, the delta in temperature between brass and iron in terms of the brass "outshrinking" the iron and causing the shot to be squeezed out, doesn't add up. The physics just aren't there.
Now what is confusing is that there are mid 17th century naval references to a "monkey" but it is referring to a type of cannon and has nothing to do with how the shot is stored.
The expression you mentioned doesn't show up until mid 1980's. Which lines up with the Beastie Boys' album Licensed to Ill.
You took the fun right out of it...wow, what a buzzkill. Things are so screwed up now that I can't even trust the things I read on the internet!Ackthually....
This is fairly easily debunked. It's just not true. First of all, shot was stored in racks that ran the length of the gun deck, below with the cannon. Secondly, the delta in temperature between brass and iron in terms of the brass "outshrinking" the iron and causing the shot to be squeezed out, doesn't add up. The physics just aren't there.
Now what is confusing is that there are mid 17th century naval references to a "monkey" but it is referring to a type of cannon and has nothing to do with how the shot is stored.
The expression you mentioned doesn't show up until mid 1980's. Which lines up with the Beastie Boys' album Licensed to Ill.
Another phrase I grew up hearing was "it's hotter than three feet up a bulls ass", can you refute that one?
Oh boy.... I can see that I'm going to be popular in this thread.
This is also not true. It comes from trading and commerce, the earliest attestations are also around the 17th century. The thumb was a simple rule of measure, broadly speaking, one inch. The thumb was used to determine length and width during trading. It had absolutely nothing to do with assault and battery in merry old England. Sorry.
Oh boy.... I can see that I'm going to be popular in this thread.
This is also not true. It comes from trading and commerce, the earliest attestations are also around the 17th century. The thumb was a simple rule of measure, broadly speaking, one inch. The thumb was used to determine length and width during trading. It had absolutely nothing to do with assault and battery in merry old England. Sorry.
