To snub, resist or reject somebody; to regard somebody distantly.

Etymology:

  • First recorded use of the expression was in 1816 by Sir Walter Scott in Scots This expression and its German equivalent are mistranslations of dederunt umerum recedentem from the Book of Nehemiah 9.29 from the Vulgate Bible, which actually means "stubbornly they turned their backs on you", which comes from the Septuagint Bible's equivalent ἔδωκαν νῶτον ἀπειθοῦντα. Latin umerus means both "shoulder" and "back".
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I must have made him angry with my comment. He's been giving me the cold shoulder ever since I said it.

Submitted on July 07, 2010

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إعطاء شخص الكتف الباردة

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    "give someone the cold shoulder." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.phrases.com/phrase/give-someone-the-cold-shoulder_12644>.

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