Subtitles section Play video Print subtitles Hi this is Tutor Nick P and this is Word Origins 85. The word origin today is cold shoulder. Okay. Let's take a look at the note here. The cold shoulder is a noun phrase that means that someone treats a person who they know in a very unfriendly way without any emotion at all. It varies from the phrase to give someone the silent treatment. Yeah. I know sometimes students might get confused between these two a little bit as well. When one gives another person the silent treatment, he or she refuses to say any words. They say they don't say anything at all to that person. If someone gives another person the cold shoulder, he or she is more likely to give unemotional one or two word answers and you know, not smile at all. So cold shoulder they just may look at you or they may look the other way. They... if you talk to them they won't answer at all basically. Or maybe just give you a dirty look. I don't know maybe possibly. But if someone's giving you the cold shoulder, they, they won't smile. They'll have a very straight face. No. Okay. No. No really. That's all right. No. They give answers like that. That's what they do. So they give very, very short brief very not warm, very cold sort of unemotional answers. That's the way we usually say that. Someone is giving you the cold shoulder. Okay. Let's continue. The idiom to give someone the cold shoulder first became popular in the early 1800s and the earliest citing is in writings by Sir Walter Scott. Okay. Many claim the origin came from a custom at the time that if a visitor was welcomed , he was served you know a big hot meal. You know, come on in give him a nice big hot meal. However if he was not welcomed, he or she would only be served the coldest toughest part of the animal usually mutton. And it was proof that it was an inferior meal and it was proof that you they weren't really that happy. Well I guess you should be glad that they gave you anything at all. But it was proof that they weren't happy. So that's, that's how it ... that's how it came about. So that's why I say somebody gave you the cold shoulder. They didn't treat you like a nice warm guest. So thus, the phrase a cold shoulder was born. So this is what they say. They say this is where it came from. Okay. So the cold shoulder refers to the cold shoulder of an animal. A piece of meat that was supposed to be a tough part, not good quality. Okay. Let's continue. We got three examples to cover this. Example number one. I don't know what I did wrong, she has been giving me the cold shoulder for two days now. So again probably the same way giving very short brief. very unfriendly sort of answers to someone. Or number two. I tried to apologize , but she didn't say much. Well she didn't say much meaning , she probably said a little but not, not very much at all. She gave me the cold shoulder. Okay and number three here. I know you strongly dislike him, if you encounter him at the party just give him the cold shoulder. Yeah. So don't face him. Okay. Anyway, I hope you got it. I hope was clear. I hope it was informative. Thank you for your time. Bye-bye.
A2 US shoulder proof meal welcomed giving phrase English Tutor Nick P Word Origins (85) Cold Shoulder 10 0 anitawu12 posted on 2019/11/11 More Share Save Report Video vocabulary