Warm welcome (opposite)

[Xavier da Silva]

Hello everyone,

I've been looking for an opposite phrase of 'warm welcome' (greeting in a friendly way). My question: Does "warm welcome" sound natural/correct in the examples that I created below?

a. The Brazilian president didn't get a very warm welcome in Paris. Bolsonaro said Macron's wife is ugly.
b. The woman didn't get a warm welcome from her family after the bad things she did.

Thank you in advance!

 

[owlman5]

Yes, it does. In the first example, your use of didn't get a very warm welcome is obviously ironic understatement.

 

[GreenWhiteBlue]

You could say that he received a very cold welcome, or a cold reception, or an icy reception.

 

[Xavier da Silva]

Thank you all very much. Maybe it's a regional thing.

1. One's welcome is not limited to the moment of arrival. We talk about "wearing out your welcome"--which means you were welcome (your hosts were glad to have you) for a time, but then you stayed too long and they were tired of you.
I would talk about a warm welcome, but not a cold welcome. Welcome is always positive. You could get a cold reception, or a cold greeting. But a "cold welcome" is like a "bad good thing."
2. (A) ''cold welcome" as a phrase has been around for a long time, but it's literary. You rarely if ever hear it in conversation.

At:
Have someone at your house + treat

 

[owlman5]

You always run the risk of getting conflicting opinions about your questions, Xavier, when you post those questions in a language forum. Frequently, the opinions you receive are based more on individual preferences than they are on broad regional differences in expressing ideas. This is particularly likely if the conflicting opinions that you receive are coming from people who live in the same country.

 

[GreenWhiteBlue]

I would talk about a warm welcome, but not a cold welcome. Welcome is always positive. You could get a cold reception, or a cold greeting. But a "cold welcome" is like a "bad good thing."

I am sorry, but you are wrong, and your dismissal of my attempt to assist you is inappropriate. A "welcome", used as a noun, means a greeting. Not every greeting is warm, or sincere, or polite, or "positive". It is entirely natural in English -- which I remind you is my native language -- and not at all uncommon to speak of a cold welcome, or an indifferent welcome, or a poor welcome, or a shabby welcome. If you doubt this, you might try searching for some of those phrases on line, and you will find that they are not at all "literary" in their usage.

 

[srk]

a. The Brazilian president didn't get a very warm welcome got the cold shoulder in Paris. Bolsonaro said Macron's wife is ugly

It doesn't work quite as well, for me, for b because she's in the family.

 

[lentulax]

your dismissal of my attempt to assist you is inappropriate

I entirely agree with GreenWhiteBlue in his views about a 'cold welcome', etc. I'd just add , in defence of Xavier himself, that the two opinions he gave in a seemingly rather peremptory manner were actually quotations of two (unchallenged) views he'd received in a previous thread from two native US-English speakers . However, this BE-speaker agrees with GWB both that there is nothing literary about a 'cool welcome', and that 'welcomes' are often dictated by necessity or courtesy when there is no warmth of feeling behind them.

 

[owlman5]

However, this BE-speaker agrees with GWB both that there is nothing literary about a 'cool welcome', and that 'welcomes' are often dictated by necessity or courtesy when there is no warmth of feeling behind them.

I couldn't agree more. He received a very cold welcome sounds like a perfectly suitable and idiomatic thing to say.

 

[natkretep]

I would have gone for a cool welcome rather than a cold welcome. Is this a trans-Atlantic difference, I wonder.

 

[owlman5]

Is this a trans-Atlantic difference, I wonder.

Maybe it is, Nat. If somebody told me that my wife was ugly, I'd be inclined to use cold rather than cool in qualifying the sort of welcome I received.

 

[natkretep]

Well, I'd certainly look at the person coldly, but I would say a 'cool welcome' or a 'cool reception'.

 

[Xavier da Silva]

I am sorry, but you are wrong, and your dismissal of my attempt to assist you is inappropriate. A "welcome", used as a noun, means a greeting. Not every greeting is warm, or sincere, or polite, or "positive". It is entirely natural in English -- which I remind you is my native language -- and not at all uncommon to speak of a cold welcome, or an indifferent welcome, or a poor welcome, or a shabby welcome. If you doubt this, you might try searching for some of those phrases on line, and you will find that they are not at all "literary" in their usage.

GreenWhiteBlue,

I'm truly sorry that my post (#4) sounded ungrateful or offensive. But I actually intended to show that a had just gotten a different reply on a previous post about 'cold welcome'. That way, I hoped to obtain more answers and have things cleared up.

I must say that I am extremely grateful to you for your answers to my posts, as well as to other forum members.

I apologize.

 

[Xavier da Silva]

One last question:

I couldn't agree more. He received a very cold welcome sounds like a perfectly suitable and idiomatic thing to say.

What if the Brazilian president is booed and insulted by French people (due to the Brazilian's previous insults to the French first lady) when arriving in France? Could I still use "Bolsonaro received a very cold welcome''?

Thank you in advance!

 

[Packard]

You could say that he received a very cold welcome, or a cold reception, or an icy reception.

"Icy reception" is good. I was going to say "received coolly". Also "disdainful [or 'scornful'] reception".

 

[Xavier da Silva]

Thank you, Packard. What do you think of my (#14) question (booed and insulted)?

 

[Packard]

Thank you, Packard. What do you think of my (#14) question (booed and insulted)?

If you say someone was "booed and insulted" it is probably not necessary to say he was "greeted coldly", that is implied directly by the "booed and insulted".

Look at this example (Macron), they did not feel it was required to say "he was greeted coldly" and yet they said he was booed and insulted.


As protests rages in France, Macron remains invisible

The next day, he paid a two-hour unannounced visit to Puy-en-Velay, in central France, where protesters earlier had set the provincial government’s headquarters on fire. A few local reporters and other journalists who were there by chance reported that Macron was booed and insulted by a small crowd.

 

[You little ripper!]

I would have gone for a cool welcome rather than a cold welcome. Is this a trans-Atlantic difference, I wonder.

If I have ever read or heard ‘cold welcome’, it has gone right over my head because it sounds very strange to me. I do use ‘a cold/icy reception’.

 

[owlman5]

If I have ever read or heard ‘cold welcome’, it has gone right over my head because it sounds very strange to me.

Remarks about cool receptions are common over here as well, but Green White and Blue's a cold welcome, a cold reception and an icy reception are not strange in any way in U.S. English. I'm a little surprised that you and Nat find those logical variants so unusual.

 

[You little ripper!]

Remarks about cool receptions are common over here as well, but Green White and Blue's a cold welcome, a cold reception and an icy reception are not strange in any way in U.S. English. I'm a little surprised that you and Nat find those logical variants so unusual.

I edited my post (I don’t know if you saw it before you posted, owlman) to add that I do use ‘cold/icy reception‘. It’s just ‘cold welcome’ I find strange. 🙂

 

[owlman5]

Oh. Well, I'm glad to know that you're not afraid to turn the thermostat in your remark down a little when the reception merits it.

 

[You little ripper!]

 

[bennymix]

If I have ever read or heard ‘cold welcome’, it has gone right over my head because it sounds very strange to me. I do use ‘a cold/icy reception’.

In agreement with you, Oxford, for the verb is pretty clear it's positive.

Definition of welcome verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

1. welcome
   verb
2. [transitive, intransitive] to say hello to somebody in a friendly way when they arrive somewhere welcome (somebody) They were at the door to welcome us.
3. [transitive] welcome somebody to be pleased that somebody has come or has joined an organization, activity, etc. They welcomed the new volunteers with open arms (= with enthusiasm).

=============

If we go by this, "I welcomed him coldly" is quite conflicted in its wording. Perhaps this will extend to the noun, and indeed Oxford's first meaning for the noun is positive.

The is not to say that "cold welcome" is illicit. But it's conflictual. Perhaps like the phrase "cold comfort," which is quite licit.