bluebrassmonkey.livejournal.com (![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png)
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insertmeathere2010-01-15 09:39 pm
bluebrassmonkey.livejournal.com) wrote in insertmeathere2010-01-15 09:39 pm
Curious Is as Curious Does
So, I suppose you could call this a "meme". Maybe. Anyhoo.
1. Where did you get / what is the inspiration behind your LJ username?
2. For those that use it, what is the inspiration behind your AIM name?
1. Where did you get / what is the inspiration behind your LJ username?
2. For those that use it, what is the inspiration behind your AIM name?
no subject
When I thought up "BlueBrassMonkey", I recalled an old nautical term (although the theory is somewhat still debated). The word "brass monkey" refers, in this sense, to a device added to the binnacle (which holds a ship's compass) to compensate for magnetic interference. It features a pair of Kelvin spheres (or "balls") mounted on a pair of arms, usually made from a brass alloy to avoid magnetic interference with the compass.
Another theory for this device involved a triangular contrivance to hold a warship's cannonball shot in place when cannons were not in use. Early devices were made of brass and...
As we all know, brass and many other metals expand and contract in fluctuating temperatures. Hence the line "freeze the balls off a brass monkey".
Blue? Well, that's obvious, now innit?