# Kamień i marmur



## Marsjanin

Good morning!

I would like to ask you which is the correct meaning of the following items:

zimny jak kamień

chłodny jak marmur

Which means 'unemotional, unfeeling' and which 'one who does not display feeling' (but may have)?

Thank you for your help!

Marsjanin


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## wolfbm1

Regarding being unfeeling, I hear more often:

zimny jak lód,

but zimny jak kamień can express the same.

Probably chłodny jak marmur belongs to the other category.


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## jasio

wolfbm1 said:


> Regarding being unfeeling, I hear more often:
> 
> zimny jak lód,
> 
> but zimny jak kamień can express the same.
> 
> Probably chłodny jak marmur belongs to the other category.



I agree. 
BTW, I made a quick google check. Both "chłodny jak marmur" and "zimny jak marmur" are rare, and often are treated literally, to describe a physical temperature rather than emotions.


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## Sandra Sandra

If you're describing an unemotional person, you can also say "zimny jak głaz".


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## Marsjanin

Thank you very much! Yes, I noticed that by googling. Language books are a strange thing indeed...


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## Ben Jamin

Marsjanin said:


> Good morning!
> 
> I would like to ask you which is the correct meaning of the following items:
> 
> zimny jak kamień
> 
> chłodny jak marmur
> 
> Which means 'unemotional, unfeeling' and which 'one who does not display feeling' (but may have)?
> 
> Thank you for your help!
> 
> Marsjanin


zimny jak lód is a colloquial expression, describing the physical property of something. Wheras zimny/chłodny jak kamień/ marmur are literary expressions related to emotional properties of a person. You can combine both adjectives and substantives at will. The meaning will be the same, but using marmur will bring a connotation of beauty.


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## wolfbm1

Ewa Straś thinks that:
"Znaczenie podstawowe przymiotników charakteryzyjących temperaturę odnosi się do przedmiotów, ciała ludzkiego traktowanego fizycznie i wnętrza człowieka."

Source: Kategoria intensywności we frazeologii języka polskiego i rosyjskiego.

So, according to her the expressions zimny jak lód, jak sopel lodu, jak ryba, jak kamień, jak marmur can describe the state of human soul.


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## Thomas1

Ben Jamin said:


> zimny jak lód is a colloquial expression, describing the physical property of something. [...]



I must say I find it neutral.

I'd add it can also be used in a metaphorical sense.


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## Ben Jamin

Thomas1 said:


> I must say I find it neutral.
> 
> I'd add it can also be used in a metaphorical sense.


It can be both colloquial and neutral, while zimny jak marmur is definitely not colloquial.


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## Thomas1

Ben Jamin said:


> It can be both colloquial and neutral, [...]



Could you please elaborate?


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## Marsjanin

Thanks to all! I'll complain with my teacher, however.


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