Cold feet

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the television series, see Cold Feet.

The term cold feet signifies a pending feeling of apprehension or doubt strong enough to prevent a planned course of action. In weddings, having "cold feet" is used as catch phrase to describe a premonition, state of ambivalence, or uncertainty in regards to a pending wedding. In realty, the term signifies apprehension as to a pending home purchase. The term generally dates back to 1893.^[1] Having cold feet is a common alibi used by runaway brides.

1 Origins
2 Overview
3 Weddings
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Origins

The origins of the expression 'to have cold feet' are in and by themselves very pictoresque. 'Cold feet' originates from the Italian piedi freddi, but the nuance is different. To have cold feet in Italy means to be penniless and rather financially stuck. There is no connotation of fear in the Italian expression, rather the meaning is more sarcastic, as in the case of someone who has squandered his riches foolishly away and is now financially stuck.

[edit] Overview

The term cold feet refers to a mental state by and through which someone, as a real estate buyer, groom, or bride, can't bring his or herself to say 'yes'. Surprisingly, more men are afflicted by it than women, at least when it comes to homebuying. Women do not seem to suffer of the same ailment, at least not nearly as disproportionately as men, e.g. realtors know, from experience, that female real estate purchasers are more predisposed towards saying 'yes', whereas men are a harder sell.^[2] Men, come time to make the final decision, may suddenly become fearful of completing the transaction. For both weddings and major purchases, he or she may be pervaded by all sorts of doubts about what they are purchasing, their financial future, or their chosen partner, etc. Having cold feet, generally, signifies a state of ambivalence leaning towards "no".

[edit] Weddings

Before weddings, it’s not at all unusual for couples to experience doubts about marriage and commitment even, and especially when, they have announced their engagement or set a date.

When couples first become involved, he or she tends to focus on the things they have in common, i.e. similarities, and even differences can seem exciting. As intimate relationships progress, differences become more to the fore and lead to conflict and even feelings of alienation. This is normal, but many people are confused by this dynamic and it is a big source of tension. In many cases, however, this feeling transitions into fear, which is typically a "cold" feeling - hence the term “cold feet”.