'not hot' vs. 'cold'

Question

Dear Friends,A linguist said the other day:'Not hot' means 'less than hot' rather than 'cold'.Hm. Do you all agree?Thanks a lot.Palinkasocsi

Emmeladelyn · Accepted Answer

Generally, I agree with the linguist. I hear "not hot" as meaning that something is perhaps lukewarm or warm. It could also mean cold if the person speaking somehow expected the object to be hot but found that it wasn't - accentuating the fact that it should be hot and is, in fact, cold.

For example, if someone served me a dessert that we eat hot in my country (apple crumble for instance) and as I tasted it I found that it was cold, I'd probably say, "Oh, it's not hot!"

CalifJim · Answer

Palinkasocsi'Not hot' means 'less than hot' rather than 'cold'.

True. My forehead is not hot just now. (I don't have a fever and I haven't been working hard.) But that doesn't mean that my forehead is cold.
freezing ... frigid ... cold ... cool ... tepid ... lukewarm ... warm ... hot ... burning hot
Something that is not hot is probably one of the other things in the list above. Maybe it's lukewarm. Maybe it's frigid. But it is not hot.
Actually, I disagree a little with the original claim. Sometimes not hot means not just hot, but burning hot, flaming, or sizzling. So on rare occasions, it could mean 'more than hot' as well. But usually it means 'less than hot'.

CJ

Palinkasocsi · Answer

So, are you suggesting that 'The soup is not hot' cannot under any circumstances mean that 'The soup is cold'?

CalifJim · Answer

PalinkasocsiSo, are you suggesting that 'The soup is not hot' cannot under any circumstances mean that 'The soup is cold'?

Exactly, when using the words "hot" and "cold" in their literal senses and considering the full spectrum of temperatures and the usual names for various ranges of temperature.
Nevertheless, in the specific situation of being served soup that is not to your liking because of its temperature, "not hot" can be used to signal "less hot than I like it". And "cold" can also be used to signal "less hot than I like it", even when the soup is literally somewhat warm or lukewarm. So, let's say that the rough sense of "not hot" means the same as the rough sense of "cold" -- at least for soup.
This relativistic use of adjectives is very common. A big butterfly is actually much smaller than a small elephant, for example. "big" here means "big -- for a butterfly", and "small" means "small -- for an elephant". So in your example, "not hot" means "not hot -- for soup as normally served at a meal".
That doesn't mean that "not hot" literally means "cold".
CJ

'not hot' vs. 'cold'

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