Meaning
The abrupt, complete cessation of an addictive habit, especially drugs, without tapering or substitute treatment; also the physical withdrawal state itself. Usually 'go cold turkey' or 'quit cold turkey'. In American usage it can additionally mean plain, blunt speech ('talk cold turkey'). Informal; the goosebump-origin story is folk etymology and should not be repeated as fact. Regional use: General English (American origin).
Origin
The phrase arose in American speech, where 'talking cold turkey' meant blunt, no-nonsense talk - an early print example is the Des Moines Daily News of May 1914 describing the evangelist Billy Sunday's preaching ('he talks cold turkey... calls a spade a spade'). The earliest known drug-withdrawal reference is a New York City medical bulletin of December 1920 describing addicts who quit and 'suffer it out' unaided, and the Daily Colonist (British Columbia, October 1921) refers to the 'cold turkey' treatment. How the turkey became attached to plain speaking is unknown; a popular theory that withdrawal-induced goosebumps resemble plucked refrigerated turkey skin has no evidence behind it, and Wikipedia additionally notes an 1877 Judy magazine story about cold turkey served to a miser as a possible but unproven thread.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- cold-turkey treatment
- go cold turkey
- quit cold turkey
- talk cold turkey
Usage Examples
- He tried tapering for months before deciding to go cold turkey and clear the nicotine out entirely.
- Withdrawal cold turkey from opioids can be brutal, so clinicians usually recommend supervised support.
- Rather than argue in circles, she went cold turkey on the small talk and named the real problem.