Posted by Word Camel on November 23, 2002
In Reply to: Re: Witch's Tit, Montana? posted by R. Berg on November 22, 2002
: : While everyone seems to be enamored with the "thermodynamics of thaumaturgic mammaries" I must say many are not abreast of true origin of this term. It is clearly early 20th Century and emanates from the Mid-Western United States. The term was, in original form ,"Cold as Witches' Tit" which is a town up in the mountains of ( I believe, Montana; it shoulders the border so you may find reference in two states)-the town called Witches' Tit which on the early travel routes was known to reach temperatures in storms, ice, snow and wind of > 20 degrees below zero became the traveler's reference point for "true coldness". The bastardizaton of the term to "...as a..." can be found only in passing reference in the Salem Journals circa 1938, strangly enough around Halloween. 'nuf said!!
: On this forum, one is never safe in saying "'Nuf said." I searched in vain on Google for a town called Witches' Tit in Montana or anywhere else, trying different spellings. (Incidentally, why is "witch" in the plural and "tit" in the singular? If there's more than one witch, there should be more than one tit--to wit, more than two.) Can you provide documentation to show that the town exists or once did?
I searched a list of all Montana towns past and present and there is no "Witches'Tit". It also seems worth mentioning that Montana is no where near the Mid-Western United States - which ends hundreds of miles East at the Missouri river.