Oct 7th, 2008 | Language Idiom survey

In English, we speak of social rejection in terms of being cold, such as being given an "icy stare," or the "cold shoulder." Those of you who speak other languages, do you also describe these feelings as being cold?


Recent research suggests that such expressions are rooted in actual physical experiences. Feeling "left out" can actually make you feel cold; it's a measurable response of your body.

I speak no language other than English, so reading this article in a science magazine made me wonder if other languages had similar expressions to describe the feeling of being lonely. Is it always the feeling of cold?



In English, we speak of social rejection in terms of being physically cold, such as an icy stare, or being given the cold shoulder, or to be frozen out of a discussion. To those of you who speak other languages, do you also describe the feeling of e


20 votes, 108 views , 7 comments
 
 
Poll tags:Language Idiom

 
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Comments (7)
Careohless
(Reply)
South Carolina, United States

posted May 15th, 2009 at 23:27 CDT

This was VERY interesting! I asked one of my Macedonian friends on a forum I go to, and she said they don't use the "cold shoulder" for rejection; instead, they say "giving you a recycle bin". =]

Bmccue7
(Reply)
Georgia, United States

posted Oct 12th, 2008 at 07:43 CDT

Alright! The next time someone says to me, "Bula Vinaka Buddy," I'll know what they're talking about.

Bmccue7
(Reply)
Georgia, United States

posted Oct 8th, 2008 at 08:08 CDT

Thanks; I'll look at that.

Charlie_bee
(Reply)
United Kingdom

posted Oct 8th, 2008 at 06:39 CDT

This article was on the BBC News site last month. It's about a study that has found that lonely people feel colder.

Ebenezer
(Reply)
Fiji

posted Oct 7th, 2008 at 16:44 CDT

We have two words for cold, namely "Liliwa (of weather and atmostphere) and Batabata (of cold water and frozen food etc) ". Liliwa is sometimes used to decribes the feeling when one is rejected. Batabata though is sometimes used to describe the hypothetic feeling in the hands, when it received a large to very large some of money.  

Ebenezer
(Reply)
Fiji

posted Oct 7th, 2008 at 21:16 CDT

 Fijian Language (in several dialects), and we use the English Alphabet to write it out. If I were to greet you, by saying "Hello Buddy" I'd say "Bula Vinaka Buddy."

Bmccue7
(Reply)
Georgia, United States

posted Oct 7th, 2008 at 17:00 CDT

So this way of describing rejection exists in other languages besides English. I thought it might be like that. What language is usually spoken in Fiji?

 
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