cold comfort | Idiomator

Meaning: (idiomatic)Much lessreassurance,consolation,aid, orpleasurethan one needs or desires.c.1590–1592(date written),William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies[…](First Folio), London:[…]Isaac Iaggard, andEd[ward]Blount, published1623,→OCLC,[Act IV, scene i],page221, column 1:[…]or ſhall I complaine on thee to our miſtris, whoſe hand / (ſhe being now at hand) thou ſhalt ſoone feele, to thy /cold comfort, for being ſlow in thy hot office.1863,James Fenimore Cooper, chapter 6, inMiles Wallingford‎[1]:The table was smoking and hissing; and Romeo Clawbonny, who acted as the everyday house-servant, or footman, had several times intimated that it might be well to commence operations, as a cold breakfast was verycold comfort.1914,Edgar Rice Burroughs, chapter 9, inAt the Earth's Core:At least I should not die alone. Human eyes would watch me end. It wascold comfortI presume, but yet I derived some slight peace of mind from the contemplation of it.2010April 8, Ben Lando, “U.S. Officials Downplay Rash of Baghdad Attacks”, inTime‎[2], archived fromthe originalon18 July 2013:But statistics arecold comfortwhen the latest explosion has leveled a nearby building.

Examples:

EN: They're cold comfort.
ES: Es tan fría su consolación.
EN: And a nice, cold comfort too!
ES: ¡Y también un agradable y frío suelo!
EN: Prussian virtues are impressive, but cold comfort aren't on a long winter's night.
ES: las virtudes prusianas son impresionantes, pero no calientan en las noches de invierno.
EN: And charity is cold comfort.
ES: Así no se vive.
EN: Well, that's some cold comfort.
ES: Bueno, esto te hará crecer.
EN: That was a cold comfort.
ES: Me reconfortó.
EN: That's cold comfort to Virgil and Meg.
ES: Eso no sirve para consolar a Virgil y a Meg.
EN: So you've come for a bit of cold comfort?
ES: ¿Entonces,vienes a por algo de frío consuelo?
EN: -Now, that's a cold comfort.
ES: - ¡Qué gran consuelo!
EN: It's cold comfort when you're lying on the bathroom floor.
ES: Eso no anima mucho cuando estás tirado en el suelo.
EN: Words are cold comfort when a young life is cut so short.
ES: Las palabras no sirven de mucho cuando una vida es llevada tan temprano.
EN: A bit of cold comfort from the cellar dweller. Just don't make a thing out of it.
ES: Un poco de consuelo frío de un habitante de las alcantarillas.
EN: Tonight's the night when a rigid Remington rifle barrel gets frenetically fellated and brain matter goes splatter and the big blanket of darkness gives cold comfort to a broken bastard.
ES: Esta noche es la noche cuando un duro rifle Remington sea chupado frenéticamente y los sesos salpicarán y una gran manta de oscuridad le dará un triste consuelo a un desgraciado infeliz.
ES: Esta noche es la noche cuando un duro rifle Remington sea chupado frenéticamente y los sesos salpicarán y una gran manta de oscuridad le dará un triste consuelo a un desgraciado infeliz.
EN: But my son was taken from me and maybe there's some cold comfort in that for some of you.
ES: Pero me han quitado a mi hijo y puede que eso consuele a algunos.
EN: It's cold comfort, but at least I didn't make that mistake.
ES: Es un frío consuelo, pero, al menos, no cometí esa equivocación.

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