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Originally Posted by Sharpsman
Pelosi is....crazier than a road lizard!


How about a lot lizard?


Ed

A person who asks a question is a fool for 5 minutes the person who never asks is a fool forever.

The worst slaves are those that put the chains on themselves.
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Originally Posted by CrowRifle
We threw a party about 20 years ago and mixed up a big batch of 'Skip and Go Nekkid' for the girls. At the end of the night we dumped all the fruit from the bottom of trash can in the back yard. About three in the morning I thought there was a gang war going down so I run out with a mag light and pistol.

Drunk raccoons laying every where. Big ones, little ones - the yard was full of them. Some of the little ones were squalling. I thought the big ones were dead but they were just too drunk to move.

So I have witnessed the old adage 'Drunk as a coon'.


That's funny right there


"The Church can and should help modern society by tirelessly insisting that the work of women in the home be recognized and respected by all in its irreplaceable value." Apostolic Exhortation On The Family, Pope John Paul II
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Originally Posted by tommyd53
Here's one I never got?: "She's taking dog, now".

.....oh, now she's just b i t c h i n g.


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the only real difference between a good tracker and a bad tracker, is observation. all the same data is present for both. The rest, is understanding what you're seeing.

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Here is the story of the brass monkey:

In the heyday of sailing ships, all war ships and many freighters carried iron cannons. Those cannons fired round iron cannon balls. It was necessary to keep a
good supply near the cannon. However, how to prevent them from rolling about the deck? The best storage method devised was a square-based pyramid with
one ball on top, resting on four resting on nine, which rested on sixteen. Thus, a supply of 30 cannon balls could be stacked in a small area right next to the cannon.
There was only one problem....how to prevent the bottom layer from sliding or rolling from under the others. The solution was a metal plate called a 'Monkey' with 16 round
indentations. However, if this plate were made of iron, the iron balls would quickly rust and stick to it. The solution to the rusting problem was to make 'Brass Monkeys.' Few landlubbers
realize that brass contracts much more and much faster than iron when chilled. Consequently, when the temperature dropped too far, the brass indentations would shrink so
much that the iron cannonballs would come right off the monkey; Thus, it was quite literally, 'Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey.'


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wabi,

you're questions are why you are so well respected around here shocked

Happier than a three legged man in an ass kicking contest.

F'd up as a soup sandwhich

alternate version to above saying, f'd up as hogan's goat

hornier than a 3 peckered billy goat

make hay while the sun shines

she's got bats in the belfry

drunker than a boiled owl

One that never made sense to me and still doesn't: I gotta go take a s--t (why not leave one for the next guy to take?)

dumber than a box of rocks

hit the nail on the head

it's a dogs life

haven't seen him in a coon's age

whistle up a storm

perhaps all variations on the same theme? : jumpin' jiminy, jiminy christmas, jumpin' jehosaphat

all in a tizzy

throwing a hissy fit

at least I got all my s--t in one sock

10 lbs of ? in a 5 lb sack

betcha a dollar to a doughnut

Geno

PS I've seen a friend's guinea pig "drunker than a skunk" from eating fallen ornamental fruits in his backyard when we were kids. Funniest thing ever, would fall over on his side and think he was still running around, legs a flailing, legs on the ground side spinning him when they made contact. Brings a big smile to my face thinking about it and serves as a good reminder to call my friend of 53 years tomorrow.


The desert is a true treasure for him who seeks refuge from men and the evil of men.
In it is contentment
In it is death and all you seek
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Originally Posted by nifty-two-fifty
Here is the story of the brass monkey:

In the heyday of sailing ships, all war ships and many freighters carried iron cannons. Those cannons fired round iron cannon balls. It was necessary to keep a
good supply near the cannon. However, how to prevent them from rolling about the deck? The best storage method devised was a square-based pyramid with
one ball on top, resting on four resting on nine, which rested on sixteen. Thus, a supply of 30 cannon balls could be stacked in a small area right next to the cannon.
There was only one problem....how to prevent the bottom layer from sliding or rolling from under the others. The solution was a metal plate called a 'Monkey' with 16 round
indentations. However, if this plate were made of iron, the iron balls would quickly rust and stick to it. The solution to the rusting problem was to make 'Brass Monkeys.' Few landlubbers
realize that brass contracts much more and much faster than iron when chilled. Consequently, when the temperature dropped too far, the brass indentations would shrink so
much that the iron cannonballs would come right off the monkey; Thus, it was quite literally, 'Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey.'

Very good sir.
A few minor touches only...

ALL ships needed to be armed, even when in protected convoys, they were required by contract to help provide for thier own protection.
It was called a "monkey" because it was a simple job, even a monkey could do. And it held the very best ammo the ship carried, for longest shots as an enemy closed, "at random shot" when aiming was "by guess and by God" imperfections would throw off your shot, like the dimples on a golfball.
Ships fired 1/4 wieght charges, lest they damage thier own ship, and shore emplacement could use full charges.
A 42lb cannon (largest we could make) in a shore battery could fire 3 miles, and was the bases of the origonal "three mile limit".
And each cannon size had to have it's own monkey size. (A 9lb cannonball is 4"dia.)


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the only real difference between a good tracker and a bad tracker, is observation. all the same data is present for both. The rest, is understanding what you're seeing.

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Cat got your tongue?


Clyde


The liberal mind is an endless black hole of stupidity.
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After a long night - Dad said "Your eyes look like 2 pee holes in a snow bank".


A true sportsman counts his achievements in proportion to the effort involved and fairness of the sport. - S. Pope
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Happier than a puppy with two peckers!


Cast

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Originally Posted by kellory
A Tinker is a pot mender. He would travel from town to town, and fix cracked skillets and pots by heating the cast iron as hot as he could and fill the crack with lead.
His work stunk though, and he could not work in town. He would travel out of town to the first good camping spot with running water, and set up for a while. He would build an earthen wall to funnel the winds into his fire (acts like a bellows) to stoke his coal fire. And he would not bother removing the dam when he was done. He might need it again at a later date.
However, anyone else who chose this likely spot while traveling, would be using wood, and wanting a low fire and not burn all his fuel so quickly. So he would be forced to either set his fire in a less advantage spot, or remove that wall himself. It was in the way.
So "worthless as a Tinker's dam " means beyond useless.

FWIW, Wikipedia disagrees.

Tinker's dam

A tinker's dam is a temporary patch to repair a hole in a metal vessel such as a pot or a pan. It was used by tinkers and was usually made of mud or clay, or sometimes other materials at hand, such as wet paper. The material was built up around the outside of the hole, so as to plug it. Molten solder was then poured on the inside of the hole. The solder cooled and solidified against the dam and bonded with the metal wall. The dam was then brushed away. The remaining solder was then rasped and smoothed down by the tinker.[4][5]

In the Practical Dictionary of Mechanics of 1877, Edward Knight makes this definition: "Tinker's-dam - a wall of dough raised around a place which a plumber desires to flood with a coat of solder. The material can be but once used; being consequently thrown away as worthless".[6]

This may have influenced the English phrase tinker's cuss, which expresses contempt. The phrases tinker's damn and tinker's cuss may also be applied to something considered insignificant. A common expression may be the examples: "I don't give a tinker's cuss what the Vicar thinks", sometimes shortened to, "I don't give a tinker's about the Vicar." In this context, the speaker is expressing contempt for the clergyman and his opinion. A tinker's cuss or curse was considered of little significance because tinkers were reputed to swear (curse) habitually.[7]


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Coffee hotter'n' a two-dollar pistol. and thick enough to float a crowbar.

Hill steeper'n' a cow's face.

Happier than a f.aggot in boy's town.



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I learned about a "hot shot" from a visit to Fort Macon near Atlantic Beach, NC. In war-between-the-states days, cannon balls were heated to near red-hot, and fired at wooden ships attacking, to try to catch them on fire. Very hazardous, at both ends.

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The houses with wooden dowels remain because the nails were expensive ,so when the people moved the house was torn down or burned to get the nails for the next house.


there is no man more free than he who has nothing left to lose --unknown--
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Originally Posted by ironbender
Originally Posted by kellory
A Tinker is a pot mender. He would travel from town to town, and fix cracked skillets and pots by heating the cast iron as hot as he could and fill the crack with lead.
His work stunk though, and he could not work in town. He would travel out of town to the first good camping spot with running water, and set up for a while. He would build an earthen wall to funnel the winds into his fire (acts like a bellows) to stoke his coal fire. And he would not bother removing the dam when he was done. He might need it again at a later date.
However, anyone else who chose this likely spot while traveling, would be using wood, and wanting a low fire and not burn all his fuel so quickly. So he would be forced to either set his fire in a less advantage spot, or remove that wall himself. It was in the way.
So "worthless as a Tinker's dam " means beyond useless.

FWIW, Wikipedia disagrees.

Tinker's dam

A tinker's dam is a temporary patch to repair a hole in a metal vessel such as a pot or a pan. It was used by tinkers and was usually made of mud or clay, or sometimes other materials at hand, such as wet paper. The material was built up around the outside of the hole, so as to plug it. Molten solder was then poured on the inside of the hole. The solder cooled and solidified against the dam and bonded with the metal wall. The dam was then brushed away. The remaining solder was then rasped and smoothed down by the tinker.[4][5]

In the Practical Dictionary of Mechanics of 1877, Edward Knight makes this definition: "Tinker's-dam - a wall of dough raised around a place which a plumber desires to flood with a coat of solder. The material can be but once used; being consequently thrown away as worthless".[6]

This may have influenced the English phrase tinker's cuss, which expresses contempt. The phrases tinker's damn and tinker's cuss may also be applied to something considered insignificant. A common expression may be the examples: "I don't give a tinker's cuss what the Vicar thinks", sometimes shortened to, "I don't give a tinker's about the Vicar." In this context, the speaker is expressing contempt for the clergyman and his opinion. A tinker's cuss or curse was considered of little significance because tinkers were reputed to swear (curse) habitually.[7]

Well, it IS Wikipedia....lol
If you google the article they referenced


You get this..."Knight may well have been a fine mechanic but there has to be some doubt about his standing as an etymologist. There is no corroborative evidence for his speculation and he seems to have fallen foul of the curse of folk etymologists - plausibility. If an ingenious story seems to neatly fit the bill then it must be true. Well, in this case it isn't. The Victorian preference of 'dam' over 'damn' may also owe something to coyness over the use of a profanity in polite conversation."....
"....The problem with that interpretation is that all those accounts ignore an earlier phrase - 'a tinker's curse' (or cuss), which exemplified the reputation tinkers had for habitual use of profanity. This example from John Mactaggart's The Scottish Gallovidian Encyclopedia, 1824, predates Knight's version in the popular language:

"A tinkler's curse she did na care what she did think or say."

In the Grant County Herald, Wisconsin, 1854, we have:

"There never was a book gotten up by authority and State pay, that was worth a tinker's cuss".

So, we can forget about plumbing. The earlier phrase simply migrated the short distance from 'curse' to 'damn' to give us the proper spelling of the phrase - tinker's damn."

In short, it claims it only a knack for foul language.


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the only real difference between a good tracker and a bad tracker, is observation. all the same data is present for both. The rest, is understanding what you're seeing.

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Originally Posted by nifty-two-fifty
Here is the story of the brass monkey:

In the heyday of sailing ships, all war ships and many freighters carried iron cannons. Those cannons fired round iron cannon balls. It was necessary to keep a
good supply near the cannon. However, how to prevent them from rolling about the deck? The best storage method devised was a square-based pyramid with
one ball on top, resting on four resting on nine, which rested on sixteen. Thus, a supply of 30 cannon balls could be stacked in a small area right next to the cannon.
There was only one problem....how to prevent the bottom layer from sliding or rolling from under the others. The solution was a metal plate called a 'Monkey' with 16 round
indentations. However, if this plate were made of iron, the iron balls would quickly rust and stick to it. The solution to the rusting problem was to make 'Brass Monkeys.' Few landlubbers
realize that brass contracts much more and much faster than iron when chilled. Consequently, when the temperature dropped too far, the brass indentations would shrink so
much that the iron cannonballs would come right off the monkey; Thus, it was quite literally, 'Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey.'

Some problems with that myth and counter-arguments, FWIW.
Wikipedia:
Supposed etymology

It is often stated that the phrase originated from the use of a brass tray, called a "monkey", to hold cannonballs on warships in the 16th to 18th centuries. Supposedly, in very cold temperatures the "monkey" would contract, causing the balls to fall off.[15] However, nearly all historians and etymologists consider this story to be a myth. This story has been discredited by the U.S. Department of the Navy,[16] etymologist Michael Quinion, and the Oxford English Dictionary (OED).[17]

They give five main reasons:

The OED does not record the term "monkey" or "brass monkey" being used in this way.

The purported method of storage of cannonballs ("round shot") is simply false. Shot was not stored on deck continuously on the off-chance that the ship might go into battle. Indeed, decks were kept as clear as possible.

Furthermore, such a method of storage would result in shot rolling around on deck and causing a hazard in high seas. Shot was stored on the gun or spar decks, in shot racks—longitudinal wooden planks with holes bored into them, known as shot garlands in the Royal Navy, into which round shot were inserted for ready use by the gun crew.

Shot was not left exposed to the elements where it could rust. Such rust could lead to the ball not flying true or jamming in the barrel and exploding the gun. Indeed, gunners would attempt to remove as many imperfections as possible from the surfaces of balls.

The physics does not stand up to scrutiny. The contraction of both balls and plate over the range of temperatures involved would not be particularly large. The effect claimed possibly could be reproduced under laboratory conditions with objects engineered to a high precision for this purpose, but it is unlikely it would ever have occurred in real life aboard a warship.

The reference is most likely a humorous reference to emphasize how cold it is.[17]



Also:
The story goes that cannonballs used to be stored aboard ship in piles, on a brass frame or tray called a 'monkey'. In very cold weather the brass would contract, spilling the cannonballs: hence very cold weather is 'cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey'. There are several problems with this story, as follows:

the term 'monkey' is not otherwise recorded as the name for such an object
the rate of contraction of brass in cold temperatures is unlikely to be fast enough to cause the reputed effect
the phrase is actually first recorded as 'freeze the tail off a brass monkey', which removes any essential connection with balls.

It therefore seems most likely that the phrase is simply a humorous reference to the fact that metal figures will become very cold to the touch in cold weather.

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/explore/what-is-the-origin-of-the-term-brass-monkey


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Quote
Well, it IS Wikipedia....lol


there is that.


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. Not to belabor the point...


"..In Boudriot’s book ‘John Paul Jones and the Bonhomme Richard,’ page 45, paragraph 3, line 7, Boudriot refers to an entry in the original ship’s log of the ‘Bonhomme Richard as it was being converted from an East Indiaman merchant ship to a ship of war. As you may or may not know, all of the guns were replaced in this ship, and a mixed set of guns installed. On conversion, the main gun deck consisted of 28 x 12 pounders of two different sizes, though of the same caliber. However, there were thirty gunports fitted, as the forward two guns could be moved to the forwardmost gunports to serve as ‘chase guns.’ As part of this conversion, the ship was also fitted with triangular ‘shot-parks of the French type’ (see page 44), and now comes the kicker! According to the log, while taking on a variety of ship-stores and equipment reads the following entry: “Receiving on board on May 23 5 tables, 3 frames for chairs, 30 cast frames, 2 cases of draws.” As Americans (though most of the crew and officers were French), they would have had little experience of French terminology, or English terminology for such things either, and certainly the word ‘frames’ is as good a descriptor of a ‘monkey’ as any other. Please note, a ‘monkey’ is not tranferrable between cannonball sizes. A ‘monkey’ for 18 pound shot will not work for either 12 pound, or 24 pound shot. Thus, all the ‘frames’ have to be of the same size, and if they were of different sizes, they would be noted as such in the log. Boudriot corroborates this by the noticeable absence of ‘monkeys’ drawn in the plans of either the lower gundeck, or the quarter deck gun positions.

Now, as these were specified as ‘cast frames,’ this indicates that they were NOT made of wood, or wooden laths (the ship’s carpenter could have banged up a bunch of these in no time). It is possible these frames were cast of iron, OR brass, but the point here is that they were certainly made of metal!!".... http://www.wordwizard.com/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=3596&start=15

Shot garlands (as shown here) WERE exposed, and used for practice and when a ship was too close to miss. Usually held the worst of the ships shot.
https://goo.gl/images/N77pX4
The math states, that a contraction of 1/3 of a ball width would release a stack of balls from the dish style brass monkey. Or for a 12×12 of 12lb balls (@4,5" each) 1.5" of contraction overall. This would require a temp of @2-3°F (uncommon at sea, but very possible on land.)
I have seen modern photos of historic bar shot, expanding bar shot, chain shot, fused shells, ....and brass monkeys in the same pics.
(I am tryimg to remember the source. And as listed above, "cast frames" for cannon balls WERE listed as coming from the Indianman ship, and sizes to specific cannonballs sizes) which defines brass monkeys to the tee.

Last edited by kellory; 04/26/17.

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Boil my britches.

Ass over teakettle.

Did we get "rubs me the wrong way" yet?

If I have to stop this car. (Oh, believe me, that's a real one and I know the meaning!)

Geno

PS, interesting info from the "wiki" world folks, thanks


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In it is death and all you seek
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As I recall, "ass over tea kettle" refers to a fight around a campfire, where the fire is the only light. If the fight got too rambunctious, someone would actually end up thrown through the fire pit,
Tea was just as common as coffee, and a pot would be on the fire.


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My grandfather had two favorite sayings to describe a downpour. One I got, the other I did not. "It's raining harder than a cow piss'n on a flat rock" explains itself, but "It's raining pitchforks and ni**er babies" I never could figure out. I laughed every time though.

Mike


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I tried going vegan, but then realized it was a big missed steak.
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