Why do we have a special type of word, a specific category of experience, that is different from “less hot”? Cold is a category of hot, to be sure. Cold represents less of something, not a something in itself. Or is it that hot represents less cold? Pick your temperaturoison – either way you have yourself a confusion. When it is less hot outside, wear mittens. When it’s even less hot outside, wear two pairs of mittens on top of each other. Cold is the connotatively more dangerous term; anything that is synonymous with a not-quite-pandemic-level-ailment is bound to be unfortunate when it refers to a weather condition, food, or one’s coffee. I’m happy to drink coffee when it’s dramatically less hot, but less happy to drink a relatively cold cup (unless it’s cold-brewed (vs. Way Less Hot Brew) and I really need a kick of caffeine. So cold is something that can become n. archaic. Perhaps.
If this were a component of a larger wikiwordpedia, it would certainly link to hot, mittens, not-quite-pandemic-level-ailment, weather, food, coffee, Way Less Hot Brew, caffeine, and archaic. Apparently I have my WordSnackaPedia work cut out for me. Or maybe it will be crowdsourced. Stay tuned, obviously.
Roman Ryan 