give someone the cold shoulder
Meaning: to deliberately treat someone with indifference or ignore them.
Language: English
Literally: to give someone a cold shoulder
Category: Food & Drink
Origin: The 'cold shoulder of mutton served to unwanted guests' tale is folk etymology, popularised by Sir Walter Scott; more likely a metaphor for physically turning one's shoulder away. Earliest citations don't support the food story.
More idioms — Food & Drink
- spill the tea — to reveal gossip or scandalous information.
- not worth your salt — incompetent; not deserving of wages or respect.
- bring home the bacon — to provide income; to succeed in earning money.
- a storm in a teacup — excessive fuss over something trivial; tempest in a teapot.
- cry over spilled milk — to regret something past; useless to grieve over unchangeable events.
- hard pill to swallow — difficult to accept; unpleasant truth or reality.
More English idioms
- let the cat out of the bag — to reveal a secret inadvertently.
- pull your punches — to hold back; to be less forceful than you could be.
- go belly up — to fail completely; to go bankrupt.
- wear your heart on your sleeve — to display emotions openly; to be transparent about feelings.
- mad as a box of frogs — completely crazy; chaotic and unpredictable.
- bark up the wrong tree — to pursue a wrong course; to blame the wrong person.
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