Why is it called COLD TURKEY when you quit smoking?

Question

Cold turkey actually sounds quite delicious. Wouldn't a more appropriate name be something less apetizing?
"I quit smoking spoiled milk."

Answer 1

It actually originally meant when you quit heroin. You'd get goosebumps and have cold and clammy skin, so your skin would feel like a cold turkey.

Then it spread to mean quitting ANYTHING without any help or weaning.

Answer 2

maybe cause after you kill the turkey and u take forever to start makeing, the turkey gets to cold that its no good, and they probably say that when smokers quit its like from that point they dont want anything to do with a cigarette, its no good to them anymore....but it depends on the person at they way they quit.
A smoker who has smoked for about 25 years and then quits in the middle of nowhere and never touches a cigarette ever again with out any nicotene patches or some aid like that, then that means that they quit cold turkey..... bye :o)

Answer 3

Cold turkey is a term not solely relegated to stopping smoking but to stopping any habit....Below is a cut and paste explanation.

Let's talk turkey. Since "cold turkey" is normally used in the context of quitting an unhealthy habit, such as smoking, we had a hunch its origins had something to do with addiction.
Sure enough, a quick Yahoo! search on "cold turkey" + "origin" led us to an entry on IdiomSite. Here, we learned that the phrase describes the skin's reaction to heroin withdrawal. As an addict stops using the drug, blood is drawn toward the internal organs, thereby leaving the skin to resemble a cold, plucked turkey.

The popular Q&A site AllExperts dates the phrase back to 1910 and states that it originally meant "without preparation," referring to the ease of making a dish of cold turkey. In 1922, the expression acquired its darker connotation related to drug withdrawal.

Actually, our feathered friends have been the inspiration for many descriptive idioms, not always flattering to fowl. Here are some graphic examples: the ghost-inspired or cold-triggered phenomenon of goose bumps; the painful goose egg (bump) on the head; chicken feed, for a measly sum of money; and chicken livered, a synonym for cowardly. It seems there's plenty of fowl language in use to depict humans who are not at their best.

Answer 4

Just think How a cold turkey would taste like.....**** like cigarette.
Geeeeez you look like me :)

Answer 5

cuz cold turkey is so dry and rotten!!

Answer 6

LOL
thats funny, I have no idea

Answer 7

lol...thats pretty funny

Answer 8

good point...........lol