colder than a witch's kiss

[William Salmon]

I also grew up hearing colder than a witch's tit, and my first thought here
was, as was previously mentioned, that 'kiss' was euphemistic. Also, in
south Texas the expression frequently includes 'fourth of July'.

It's colder than a witch's tit on the fourth of July.

And it can also be hotter:

It's hotter than a witch's tit on the fourth of July.




On Sat, Dec 14, 2013 at 11:59 AM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: colder than a witch's kiss
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Dec 14, 2013, at 9:54 AM, Joel S. Berson wrote:
>
> > 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
>
> Just as Popik > Bobik below.
>
> The locus classicus, I believe, is "colder than a witch's tit", singular,
> so the move to "kiss" at least preserves the singular morphology if not the
> phonology.  And I agree that this is indeed a euphemism.
>
> LH
> >
> > 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.
> >>
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