Cold shoulder
"Cold shoulder" is a phrase used to express dismissal or the act of disregarding someone. Its origin is attributed to Sir Walter Scott in a work published in 1816. A commonly repeated folk etymology involves giving a cold serving of meat.
The expression "cold shoulder" has been used in many literary works, and has entered into the vernacular. It has been used as a description of aloofness and disdain,[1] a contemptuous look over one's shoulder,[2] and even in the context of a woman attempting to decline the advances of an aggressive man.[3] Overall, it remains widely popular as a phrase for describing the act of ignoring someone or something, or giving an unfriendly response.[4]
Etymology
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The first recorded use of the expression was in 1816 by Sir Walter Scott in the Scots language, in The Antiquary. [5][6][7][1][8]
Ye may mind that the Countess's dislike did na gang farther at first than just shewing o' the cauld shouther ...[9]
Where "cauld" is the equivalent of cold and "shouther" means shoulder,[10] which is further supported by contextual usage in The Antiquary.[1] The phrase also appears in one of Scott's later works, St. Ronan's Well and after the 1820s it had travelled to the United States. Dated June 1839 in a letter to the editor in the New England newspaper The Bangor Daily Whig and Courier:
... eminent individuals and his cabinet advisers turned "the cold shoulder" to their ambassador, for his independent act upon this occasion.[1]
The common explanation that the phrase stems from serving a cold shoulder of mutton or other meat to an unwanted guest is an incorrect folk etymology according to linguists.[7][6][1]
One source claims that the explanation of the expression is literal: keeping one's back towards, or in the least a shoulder between, a person one was trying to avoid.[11]
See also
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References
[edit source]- 1 2 3 4 5 Martin, Gary. "Cold shoulder". The Phrase Finder. Gary Martin. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
- ↑ Hodgson, p. 153.
- ↑ Palmatier, p. 73.
- ↑ Helterbran, p. 22.
- ↑ "shoulder – Origin and meaning of shoulder by Online Etymology Dictionary". www.etymonline.com. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
- 1 2 "Cold shoulder « The Word Detective". www.word-detective.com. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
- 1 2 "World Wide Words: Cold shoulder". World Wide Words. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
- ↑ "Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary, ŭmĕrus". www.perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
- ↑ Scott, p. 69.
- ↑ Jamieson, p. 475.
- ↑ Eliot, p. 33.
Sources
[edit source]- Eliot, Sonny; Hill, Draper; Williams, Stanley D. (2007). Sonny Sez!: Legends, Yarns, and Downright Truths. Wayne State University Press. p. 180. ISBN 978-0-8143-3335-8.
- Helterbran, Valeri R. (2008). Exploring Idioms: A Critical-Thinking Resource for Grades 4–8. Maupin House Publishing, Inc. p. 133. ISBN 978-1-934338-14-8.
- Hodgson, Charles (2007). Carnal Knowledge: A Navel Gazer's Dictionary of Anatomy, Etymology, and Trivia. Macmillan. p. 272. ISBN 978-0-312-37121-0.
- Jamieson, John; Johnstone, John; Longmuir, John (1867). Jamieson's Dictionary of the Scottish language. Edinburgh, W. P. Nimmo. p. 635. OCLC 70431433.
- The Nation. Vol. 69. Joseph H. Richards. 1899. ISSN 0027-8378. OCLC 1643268.
- Palmatier, Robert Allen (2000). Food: a dictionary of literal and nonliteral terms. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 461. ISBN 0-313-31436-5.
- Scott, Sir Walter (1816), The works of Sir Walter Scott. 3, The antiquary, James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co. Edinburgh; and Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, London, p. 370, OCLC 310724884