“冷”言“冷”语

Cold weather has a great effect on how our minds and our bodies work. Maybe that is why there are so many expressions that use the word cold.

For centuries, the body’s blood has been linked closely with the emotions. People who show no human emotions or feelings, for example, are said to be cold-blooded. Cold-blooded people act in cruel ways. They may do brutal things to others, and not by accident.

For example, a newspaper says the police are searching for a cold-blooded killer. The killer

我们从一些词中可以看出，人体的血液和人的情感、想法是有紧密联系的，例如“热血”一词形容的就是为正义事业而献身的热情。与之相对的“冷血”，在英语中的表达为“cold-blooded”，是用来形容人没有任何情感和感受，他们行事残忍，而且并非出于偶然。“cold-blooded killer”是“冷血杀手”的意思，用这个词来形容罪犯，也就是说他不是出于自卫或对愤怒和恐惧的反应，而是冷漠无情地夺走他人的生命。 murdered someone, not in self-defense or because he was reacting to anger or fear. He seemed to kill for no reason, and with no emotion, as if taking someone’s life meant nothing.

Cold can affect other parts of the body. The feet, for example. Heavy socks can warm your feet, if your feet are really cold. But there is an expression―to get cold feet―that has nothing to do with cold or your feet.

The expression means being afraid to do something you had decided to do. For example, you agree to be president of an organization. But then you learn that all the other officers have resigned. All the work of the organization will be your responsibility. You are likely to get cold feet about being president when you understand the situation.

Cold can also affect your shoulder. You give someone the cold shoulder when you refuse to speak to them. You treat them in a distant, cold way. The expression probably comes from the physical act of turning your back toward someone, instead of speaking to him faceto-face. You may give a cold shoulder to a friend who has not kept a promise he made to you, or to someone who has lied about you to others.

A cold fish is not a fish. It is a person. But it is a person who is unfriendly, unemotional and shows no love or warmth. A cold fish does not offer much of himself to anyone.

Someone who is a cold fish could be cold-hearted. Now a cold-hearted person is someone who has no sympathy. Several popular songs in recent years were about cold-hearted men or cold-hearted women who, without feeling, broke the hearts of their lovers.

Out in the cold is an expression often heard. It means not getting something that everybody else got. A person might say that everybody but him got a pay raise, that he was left out in the cold. And it is not a pleasant place to be.

词组“to get cold feet”从字面上看是“脚冷”的意思，但实际上却另有其意。当你突然对计划好的事情产生退缩的畏惧心理时，（大多数情况下是出于紧张，）就可以用到“to get cold feet”这个词组，是“临阵退缩”的意思。有人说这个词组的起源是士兵借口因为脚冷而不能上战场，临阵脱逃。

当你冷落了某人而且是用一种极不友好和无礼的方式对待他时，我们就可以用到“give someone the cold shoulder”这个词组，表示“对某人态度冷淡、不以为然”。

“cold fish”并不是用来形容鱼的，而是一个贬义词，说的是那些对人很冷淡、不友好，不愿和别人友好相处的人，他们性格比较孤僻，不太合群。这种人可能会比较无情，对别的人或事物没有同情心，这时候我们可以用“cold-hearted”来形容他们。

“out in the cold”是经常听到的一个词组，意思是“被冷落、遭排斥”，指的是没有得到其他人得到的东西。