Monday, October 24, 2005

As cold as . . . .

I have said several times that "words matter." I guess it should be my mantra. Either that, or "want to be" writers chose their words carefully. Think words don’t matter. In my checkered past, my hubbie called me from his convention to say: "What did you do last night?" My answer: "Out with the girls." Had I said "out with the guys," do you think he would have had more questions for his sweet, innocent bride?

So today, boys and girls, I am going to talk about a saying that I have heard all of the time (and used occasionally, especially at this time of year), and I have no idea of where this saying came from. Drum roll, please: "As cold as a witch's tit."

Okay, I will have to admit I have not met any witches, and if I had, I think my first thought would be to splash a bucket of water on said witch, praying to God that "The Wizard of Oz" was really a cleverly filmed documentary and is factually accurate. My first thought would never be to grab the witch's left breast.

It is cold in Georgia right now, not Minnesota plug-your-car-into-an-electric-socket cold, but cold for our standards. Because of the weather, I think our blood is thinner than Minnesota blood. So even though it is not freezing, it is cold as a witch's tit in the great state of Georgia this morning.

The phrase still puzzles me, but it doesn't keep me from saying it.

13 comments:

*Monica said...

I say that one too, I got it from my Granny Belle. I think it means they are mean and coldblooded, but not sure.

Brea said...

My tit is pretty cold.

Deb said...

Hmmm.......never touched a witch's tit....unless you're referring to my girlfriend...(ha) I'd get slapped if she saw that comment...BUT----nothing wrong with showing a little headlight action once in a while. Totally hot!

MZPEACH said...

Girl, it is truly cold. I'm here in Atlanta (downtown) freezing my butt off. It just does not make any sense to me. It is too cold, too soon. The Rich Men post was hillarious!

Leesa said...

mo: You are a Southern Belle, though. I wonder if anyone from the north has heard it.

brea: My tits are pretty cold today too!

deb: I was thinking about going there, but I decided not too. Not that I am a lesbian, but I have touched another woman's tit.

GP: Thanks. I liked writing the Rich Man blog.

Grant said...

For when it's really cold, add the optional phrase "...in a brass bra." Personally I think real witches are hot and sexy, so the whole phrase loses its meaning with me.

On a nearly related note, have you considered joining NaNoWriMo? If you really want to abuse yourself as a writer, you can take the challege to write a short (50,000 word) novel during the month of November.

Leesa said...

grant: A whole novel in one month. What a challenge.

sands of time said...

Ive never heard that one.I heard one that was as cold as brass balls

Leesa said...

Several of you have mentioned "cold as brass balls." It is shortened from "cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey", and The Brier Patch explains it on their site.

mfophotos said...

I hope my balls never get that cold!

Doublebogie said...

Hmmm? Interesting "point"
We here in upsate NY where it's usually colder than a witch's tit most of the winter,(last yr we had a cold spell of below 10 for 3 wks straight), use that phrase quite a bit. I've never really touched a witch's tit but I bet my wife would be a close resemblance. Mostly stated as a sign of frigidity or cold-bloodedness.
The term, "freeze the balls off a brass monkey" is refered to also in this neck of the woods but usually the term "brass balls" is mentioned as a sign of masculinity as in, "C'mon! Get tough like you got a pair of brass balls".
I don't know, maybe we northerners are just strange. Where we live has also been noted as "Where the men are men, the women are too and the sheep are nervous"
So I guess if "words matter", we're all in trouble!

Stephanie said...

I live in Mass with all the Salem witch stuff and have never heard that expression. LOL! It does, however, get that cold here!

kathi said...

I've heard it for ever, but have no idea where it came from or what it means. Just like a driveway, for where you park the car...someone puts it out there and millions follow suit. Dance puppet, dance. :)