colder than a witch's kiss

[Joel S. Berson]

Isn't this simply a variation on the notion that witches were cold
overall, had cold blood?  The variation that has I think been
discussed previously is "witch's tits".  (Perhaps "kiss" is the
polite version, having some phonological similarity.)

Joel

At 12/14/2013 07:21 AM, W Brewer wrote:
>Maybe Barry Bopik can deconstruct this one: "It was a blow that knocked me
>colder than a witch's kiss." (Harry was hit on the head from behind by a
>giant Moorish bodyguard wielding a rifle butt.)
>"The Adventures of Harry Lime" radio broadcast 14 Dec 1951, episode 20 "An
>Old Moorish Custom"; which episode was also evidently included in a 1952
>novelization, short story #15.
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org