THUNK ! ! !

When myself and two co-workers climbed into one of their cars to go to lunch the other day, the Beastie Boys' "Brass Monkey" was playing on the radio. I asked them if they knew what a Brass Monkey was, and both of them said, "no". I went on and told them the deal.
I then proceeded to ask if they had ever heard the phrase, "It's cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey". They hadn't. Not wanting to disappoint, as I like to share trivial knowledge with anyone who will listen while getting through the workday; I laid it on them...
Apparently back in the days of the tall sailing ships that carried cannon, they used to store cannon balls on these indented blocks of brass (called a brass monkey) on the deck. If it were to get cold enough, this piece of metal would contract enough that the balls would become dislodged; thus, cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey. This lead to asking if they knew what a powder monkey was, and guess again, they didn't. I only know what that is from reading James Clavel novels.
Once we were back in the office, I had to appease my curiosity and see if the story I just laid on these people was true and not bullshit. A quick search in google and I found myself on Wickipedia and it turns out that my story was a bit of folk etymology, and not really true at all. Yes, I confessed to the offense and even sent them the link. There's even a blurb about powder monkeys at the bottom of the entry.

In case you didn't know, a Beasties' brass monkey is a 40oz that you've replaced the first slugs of with some OJ. That's what I remember it to be, anyway.