"It's Colder than a Witch's Heart Out There!"
True. I'm a (kitchen) witch, and my heart is very warm. But also false - this colloquialism is used to mean it's bitterly cold - and heart is usually teat/tit. My fellow AmeriCorps member here at our service site just uttered this phrase, and for some reason, I'm offended. It's the implication that witches are evil, heartless beings - the green halloween hag, the Wicked Witch of the West, the Evil Stepmother. The implication that witches harbor no warm feelings, do nothing good, and are the bane of good, God-Fearing(tm) folk everywhere, that's what hurts.
Witches, after all, dance with the Devil in the moonlight.
They eat babies.
Kick puppies.
Scare little children. (*GASP*)
Didn't you know? Weren't you aware?
Oh, you missed the memo?
Huh, so did I, apparently. Now, it's likely my fellow member didn't mean to utter a slur against witches of the Pagan and Wiccan variety - lovely people (in general, there are a few crackpots like with any group) who'd much rather blow raspberries on your baby's belly and pretend to nibble at his ears than actually EAT him. A good lot of them are vegetarians - they don't even eat cows, much less babies. I can tell you I'd much rather eat the cow and cuddle the baby.
She doesn't know any better, after all. Society presents green evil witches, and most people just don't know, or have been told by their pastor, or read something in a book somewhere - and they just beleive it. Sadly, it's not worth it for me to correct her, or mention that the phrase is offensive.
Here's the kicker, though. The original "Colder than a witch's tit" doesn't bother me one whit. Not at all. It makes me giggle, and think of other things, like "Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey".
It's the "heart" part that's offensive.
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4 comments:
Hey Heather. I understand where you are coming from- sort of. My DF is Pagan, and in the small town we live in, we hear horrible things, mostly directed at him. He grew up here, so pretty much everybody knows. He's been called Devil Worshipper, Baby Eater, all kinds of crazy things. I even lost a friend due to him being Pagan..anyway, I'm going on and on. But I get why you were offended. I'd be offended too.
Aww Heather, I am sorry you got offended. I'm sure she meant no harm. I have used that phrase myself on many occasion (although, always with the "tit" being cold, never the heart - please blame my mother, she said it all the time growing up) and it never occured to me it might be offensive to someone. I guess I never really related Paganism to witches - they always seemed like a seperate thing to me. Thank you for the lesson; I will try to be more mindful from now on. Hope the day goes better!
D
I just found a link to a place where you can cover your cold, witch-y heart with someethin cute and on sale. Since the blogger is generally quite fabulous too, and I think you will enjoy reading her, I'm linking to the OP.
Eden, helps you spend your $$
Ooooh, tee shirts!
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