Etymology Journal ยท C
Colder than a well digger's belt buckle
Meaning
- Another variation of the well-digger idiom, emphasizing extreme cold. It implies the cold is so deep it penetrates everything.
Folksy, mild
Used in a sentence
- Lordy, it is colder than a well digger's belt buckle this morning.
- Bring an extra sweater because it is colder than a well digger's belt buckle in the garage.
- I thought the heater was broken because it felt colder than a well digger's belt buckle.
The backstory
This is a slightly cleaner, more radio-friendly version of older, cruder idioms involving well-diggers. It likely gained traction as people adapted the phrase for polite company.
Heard in
The South
Vibe check