This mini episode teaches you another useful expression: “cold comfort.”
Episode 165 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode that teaches you another useful expression: “cold comfort.” Send your questions about English and your suggestions for future episodes to EverybodyESL@gmail.com! (And let me know if you’d like to record the introduction to a future episode.)
The phrase I want to teach you today is “cold comfort.” Cold comfort. That’s cold: c-o-l-d. Comfort: c-o-m-f-o-r-t. Cold comfort.
“Cold comfort” means encouraging words or a thoughtful idea that is positive but not very positive. It’s something that somebody tells you to make you feel better, but it does not give you very much comfort. It really doesn't make you feel better at all.
Let me give you an example, and then I'm sure you will understand the idea of cold comfort.
Let's say there is a very bad storm. The wind is blowing so strong that it knocks a tree over, and the tree falls on your car. And your car is destroyed: the windows are broken, and the roof is dented, and it's terrible. This has caused a lot of damage. Your next-door neighbor—the person who lives next to you—comes out and sees the damage. He sees what has happened to your car. And he says, “Well, the storm could have been a lot worse. It could have damaged my car, too.”
The reason this is cold comfort is because your neighbor is telling you this as though it is good news, as though it is supposed to make you feel better, but it really does not make you feel better. Your car was still destroyed even if his car was not. So it is a comforting idea that does not give you very much comfort. It is an encouraging idea that does not really make you feel any better.
Usually when we think of something that is comforting or comfortable, we think of something warm and cozy. Maybe something like a blanket. So if something is only giving you cold comfort then it's not really giving you comfort at all. Well, I think that is the idea. That's where this expression comes from.
That is “cold comfort,” a very useful expression that I think you should know.