There are rumors in the air!
There are always rumors in the air about someone or something. To what rumors do I refer?
It’s not about who is running for which political office, though that conversation is heating up locally.
It’s not about who committed which indiscretion with whom, though there are always such rumors in the works somewhere.
The particular rumors to which I refer on this sunny but cold January 20, 2026 concern the weather.
There is great anticipation about a potential winter storm that is predicted to hit our area in East Tennessee and surrounding regions this weekend. Just how much snow will there be and how cold will it get?
By the time many of you Dear Readers read this article, you will already know the answer to that question. At present, all we can do is listen to the weather forecasts and buy our bread and milk, just in case.
Just how cold might it get this winter?
Consider the young boy who told his mother, “It’s gonna be cold enough to freeze the b---s off a brass monkey!” For that, his mother gave him an ol’ fashioned “whoppen”!”
I’m sure most Dear Readers know which word is “abbreviated” above. Admittedly, that sounds obscene; however, before the more genteel of you Dear Readers get offended, as did the boy’s mother, read on for an explanation provided to me via email concerning where this expression originated.

. . . In the heyday of sailing ships, all warships 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 to it.
The solution to the rusting problem was to make 'Brass Monkeys.' Few landlubbers realize that brass contracts greater, and much faster than iron when it's chilled. Consequently, when the temperature dropped too far, the brass indentations would shrink so much that the iron cannonballs would roll right off the monkey. Thus, it was quite literally, 'Cold enough to freeze the [cannon]balls off a brass monkey.'

Another illusion to “balls” from the past also might seem to have an obscene intent until one knows this explanation for the origin of an expression. Each aircraft throttle on a plane . . .

. . . had a ball on the end of it, in order to go full throttle the pilot had to push the throttle all the way forward into the wall of the instrument panel. Hence "balls to the wall" for going very fast . . .

Finally, consider the fine Christian female gym teacher who once said, “You don’t have to have balls to teach PE!” Many of those who heard her attached, as she said, a dirty meaning to her words. What she actually meant was that many physical education activities don’t require any form of softballs, kick balls, basketball, etc.; however, it might be fun to square dance with a ball (perhaps more than with a bunch of “squares”).
One thing’s for sure—people can certainly have a “ball” at a good country square dance!
And now, as the legendary Paul Harvey said, “You know the rest of the story.”

ANSWER TO QUESTION OF THE WEEK # 82
How many people will find it funny that there is a fine line between a numerator and a denominator? (ANSWER: Only a fraction.)

QUESTION OF THE WEEK # 83
What was the wife’s idea of a Super Bowl? (See the next “Mincey’s Musings” in historicunioncounty.com for the answer.)

EMAIL ADVICE FOR GOLFERS
It's easy to keep your ball in the fairway, if you don't care which fairway.
Golden Rule: Never wash your ball on the tee of a water hole.