Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey!
Well, a brass monkey was a triangle usually made of brass upon which cannon balls were stacked. The triangle would keep the base layer of cannon balls together so that additional layers could be arranged on top to form a pyramid. The balls were made of iron or a similar metal. When it became really cold the brass would contract much more than the cannon balls with the result that the balls would fall off the "brass monkey".
Hence the expression "cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey" !
Not enough space to swing a cat!
Forget those visions of poor old kitty being swung around someone's head! It really means not enough space to swing a cat o'nine tails, the infamous whip with which miscreant sailors were flogged before the mast.
Flogging a Dead Horse
A ceremony held by British crews when they had been at see for a period of four weeks - during which time they had worked off their initial cash advance, usually one month's pay (and usually all long since spent!). The term "flogging a dead horse" alludes to the difficulty of getting any extra work out of the crew during this period, since the sailors felt as though they were working for nothing!
Show a leg
This has two meanings : firstly, to 'make an appearance', usually by getting out of bed, or at least showing willing by poking your leg out ; and secondly, to 'hurry along'.
The phrase is derived from the Royal Navy. It refers to the order given to sailors to put a foot from their hammocks and get up. The full version of the morning call as documented by John Masefield was:
“Heave out, heave out, heave out, heave out! Away!
Come all you sleepers, Hey!
Show a leg and put a stocking in it”.
A more dubious version comes from the fact that in the 19th century women were permitted on board Royal Navy ships and allowed to sleep on after the sailors had been roused. The order of show a leg was supposed to have been given so that the shapely legged women could be distinguished from the hairy-legged sailors!!!
And for lots more go to :Dauntless Privateers.
