cold shower

cold shower (plural cold showers)

1. A shower taken by a person in cold water; as taken for therapeutic reasons, or suggested as a remedy to calm sexual excitement.
   • 2008, H. Clayggett Vanpelt, The Ultimate Plan, page 78:

     He had wondered who ever thought up that cliché, “take a cold shower,” had been ill-informed. It worked as long as you're in the shower, but, you certainly can't be in a cold shower twenty-four hours per day, he thought.

2. (figurative) Something unexpected and often unpleasant which makes one take stock or reconsider something; a sudden change or turn of events.
   • 2018 June 11, Catherine Shoard, “Why Hollywood needs to ditch the heist movie”, in The Guardian‎:

     At a time when mobile phones and social media ensure we’re all familiar with what crime really looks like, our tolerance for embracing it as entertainment may be diminished. Likewise our indulgence of those who act as if they’re above the law. Donald Trump, Harvey Weinstein – both are a bit of a cold shower for those who like to celebrate devil-may-care chutzpah.

   • 2020 September 10, Jonathan Jones, “Not Without My Ghosts review – Yikes! It's time to unleash your inner Scooby Doo”, in The Guardian‎:

     Fascinating stuff, and I wanted more – lots more – but this little travelling show just touches on the terror and magic of seeing the otherworld. We jump cut from the 1920s to now and get a chaotic selection of contemporary takes on spiritualist art. Hiller aside, it’s like being hit by a cold shower of irony, wrecking the spooky mood.

   • 2021 January 13, Phoebe Weston, “Top scientists warn of 'ghastly future of mass extinction' and climate disruption”, in The Guardian‎:

     Ours is not a call to surrender – we aim to provide leaders with a realistic ‘cold shower’ of the state of the planet that is essential for planning to avoid a ghastly future.

3. (figurative) A chilly or unenthusiastic reaction to something or someone.
   • 2019 October 30, Michael Powell, “The Great World Series Interference Debate”, in The New York Times‎:

     President Trump turned up and took a cold shower of boos which his memory has not yet alchemized into thunderous applause and two models popped up behind home plate, pulled up their shirts and bared their breasts as Houston’s Gerrit Cole peered in at his catcher for a sign.

• “cold shower”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.