Cold shoulder
Phrase used to disregard someone
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"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
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
