Glossary entry

English term or phrase:

warmth of a rusty nail

English answer:

With no warmth on her face

    The asker opted for community grading. The question was closed on 2012-06-16 07:54:08 based on peer agreement (or, if there were too few peer comments, asker preference.)
Jun 13, 2012 06:19
11 yrs ago
English term

warmth of a rusty nail

English Other General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
The next morning a nurse came in fresh as a daisy, a smile on her face. “How are you this morning, dear?” she asked. I looked at her with the warmth of a rusty nail. “What’s this?” she said, looking in my teacup.
Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:

Non-PRO (1): Cilian O'Tuama

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Responses

+5
2 mins
Selected

With no warmth on her face

A rusty nail is the least warm and friendly thing you can imagine. So the author is saying the nurse was sharp, unpleasant, not warm at all.

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Note added at 1 hr (2012-06-13 07:50:47 GMT)
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Yes, sorry, realise it was how the patient looks at the nurse. Sorry about that!
Peer comment(s):

agree Charles Davis : It refers to how he/she looks at the nurse
17 mins
Yes indeed - oopsy but the explanation is correct, I just can't read a sentence properly!
agree Jack Doughty : The author is saying she herself was all these things in response to the nurse's friendly greeting.
17 mins
Indeed - have put a note on now!
agree Andrei Vrabtchev : Not the nurse was unpleasant, but the author (he/she)!
44 mins
Yup. Can't read! But my explanation is at least coherent!
agree Catharine Cellier-Smart : yes but as the others have said, this applies to the narrator not the nurse
53 mins
And I call myself an editor. Too excited to be back in the Kudoz game after a month or so out!
neutral Arabic & More : I agree with the others. This describes the narrator, not the nurse.
59 mins
That's true, but the explanation of the phrase still stands!
agree Anita Šumer
2 hrs
Thank you
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "thank you!"
1 hr

in an unpleasant way

with the warmth of a rusty nail - an ironic usage
Something went wrong...
8 hrs

in a stiff and expressionless way

I think the expression "rusty nail" is used in order to intesify the opposition between the fresh-looking nurse's face and the stiff and expressionless (due to disease) mood of the girl.
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