Colder Than Blitney

Nick in Cincinnati, Ohio, is fond of his Appalachian-born grandmother’s phrase colder than blitney, meaning “extremely cold” or “cold as the dickens.” It’s likely a version of cold as blixen, which has a number of other variants including blitzen, blixens, blixes, blixian, blixum, and blixies. Cold as blixen may derive from German Blitz, meaning “lightning.” This is part of a complete episode.

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