cold turkey

[vil]

Dear teachers,

Would you tell me whether I am right with my interpretation of the expression in bold in the following sentence?

He was....what we call a grouch-face, a drizzle-puss, a wet blanket, a cold turkey.

cold turkey = reserved, indifferent person

Thank you for your efforts.

Regards,

V

[Tdol]

I'd say stronger- someone who ruins other people's fun.

[5jj]

I've never met cold turkey used that way before. I've only encountered it as one way to stop taking an addictive drug, suddenly and without any means of support. I assume that this idiomatic expression originated in the look and feel of the recovering addict's skin.

[vil]

Hi fivejedjon,

Besides the mentioned of you additional connotation of the key expression (Joe did a cold turkey.) I know another usage of the expression in question as an adverb..

You said that you and Kirby went to see Dr. Babb cold turkey that you didn’t telephone or have any appointment. (E.S.Gardner, “The Case of the Screaming Woman”)

He had been kicked out of NCO School point blank, cold turkey.

cold turkey (adv.) = unceremoniously, offhand,, without preparing, without warning, point blank

To the best of my knowledge the mentioned in my original post above connotation “reserved, indifferent person” takes up its stand on the close proximity of both notions “cold fish” and “cold turkey”... In the tooth of the fact that it aroused your suspicion I would have you believe that it is a good practical application

old turkey n. slang

1. Immediate, complete withdrawal from something on which one has become dependent, such as an addictive drug.
2. Blunt language or procedural method.
3. A cold fish.

cold fish = a hard-hearted, unfeeling individual, one who shows no emotion,

V.

[Ouisch]

In AmE, "cold turkey" is almost always associated with abruptly stopping an addictive behavior (whether it be drugs, cigarettes, or video games). "Cold fish" is commonly used to describe an unemotional, indifferent person.