Witch's Tit, Montana?

Posted by R. Berg on November 22, 2002

In Reply to: In Response to Miriam Bell posted by Hal Whittaker on November 21, 2002

: While everyone seems to be enamored with the "thermodynamics of thaumaturgic mammaries" I must say many are not abreast of true origin of this term. It is clearly early 20th Century and emanates from the Mid-Western United States. The term was, in original form ,"Cold as Witches' Tit" which is a town up in the mountains of ( I believe, Montana; it shoulders the border so you may find reference in two states)-the town called Witches' t i t which on the early travel routes was known to reach temperatures in storms, ice, snow and wind of > 20 degrees below zero became the traveler's reference point for "true coldness". The bastardizaton of the term to "...as a..." can be found only in passing reference in the Salem Journals circa 1938, strangly enough around Halloween. 'nuf said!!

On this forum, one is never safe in saying "'Nuf said." I searched in vain on Google for a town called Witches' t i t in Montana or anywhere else, trying different spellings. (Incidentally, why is "witch" in the plural and "tit" in the singular? If there's more than one witch, there should be more than one tit--to wit, more than two.) Can you provide documentation to show that the town exists or once did?

• Witch's Tit Word Camel 11/23/02
  • Witch's Tit R. Berg 11/24/02