colder than a witch's kiss

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Here are some other examples of cold knockouts expressed with
figurative language. (GB dates may be inaccurate):

1941: knocked him colder than a frozen mackerel
1941: If I hadn't ducked he would have knocked me colder than a pop sickle
1948: hit my head on a rock, and knocked myself colder than a well
digger's feet.
1950: It knocked me colder than a healthy dog's nose.
1951: Any place but Terre Haute he'd have knocked me colder than a
welldigger's ass.
1952: he knocked me colder than a fish.
1991: It knocked me colder than a cuckoo,
1984: it knocked me colder than a flounder
2003: They knocked me colder than a steer with a sledge-hammer.
2005: he almost got knocked colder than a cucumber.
2007: It hit me above the right ear and knocked me colder than a
winter's midnight,
2010: someone came in behind me and knocked me colder than an icicle in January

Perhaps more than one meaning can be assigned to W Brewer's example.

"It was a blow that knocked me colder than a witch's kiss."

The phrase "witch's kiss" may have been a simple substitute for a
reference to a witch's breast satisfying 1951 censors as suggested.
Yet, an alternative analysis stems from the bewitching nature of the
archetype. The kiss might have been overpowering and intoxicating
enough to render an individual unconscious. The two interpretations
may overlay one another to yield a richer meaning. Those 1951 radio
serial writers were clever.


On Sat, Dec 14, 2013 at 1:09 PM, William Salmon <wnsalmon at d.umn.edu> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       William Salmon <wnsalmon at D.UMN.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: colder than a witch's kiss
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> 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:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> 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.
>> >>
>> >> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> >> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>> >
>> > ------------------------------------------------------------
>> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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