As Cool as a Cucumber

Why? One might imagine that it was simply because eating cucumbers had a cooling effect due to their high water content – much as we might nowadays turn to a Water Melon on a warm day. But the origins of the phrase – which goes back at least to the 17th century when it was ‘cold as a cucumber’ – lies in the belief that cucumbers reduced lust. The phrase was especially applied to women and was intended to imply frigidity.