Not asking ‘cause I’m about to get to second base with some Wiccan princess. It’s just that since I’ve been on a health kick (for about 5 minutes), I now walk to work. Unfortunately the weather has NOT been cooperating. It’s like really, really, cold, ice water outside. Which is pretty much the main reason that expression keeps popping in and out of my head as snot leaks from my nose and instantly freezes to my face. Sorry for evoking such sexy imagery.
The expression began in the 16th century in not so jolly ol’ England. Apparently, the “mark of the witch” was located on her breast. Any woman who had an extra nipple, blemish or beauty dot in that area was instantly considered evil. Old court records even show the deposition of these blasphemic-boobs during witch trails.
SO WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT TEMPERATURE-WISE?
Believe it or not there is an answer! Scholars say that after the whole “witch trials, death to wrongly accused women” thingy, the expression referred to when Mercury (in thermometers) solidified. And as a certain informative wiki post states ...
The temperature at which mercury will freeze is a cool -38.83 °C (-37.89 °F).
You're welcome.
Excuse me while I put a thermometer to my nipples. It's kinda hard to type this way.
ReplyDeleteRobyn