Don’t you give me the cold shoulder!!!

• After a short distance, he moved into the left lane to avoid a car parked on the right shoulder.
• On cue, she feels a touch on her right shoulder, and a faint perfume of curry.
• Her left shoulder, exposed by her sleeveless cotton top, felt burned.
• I have been passed by another driver who drove on the left shoulder of Route 41.

You will also see that a shoulder, whether a body part or part of a road, can be right or left.

Here are a few more examples:

• Brad swung the wheel of his car, slewing the old Chevy onto the right shoulder. It hit the ditch and rolled onto its side. 
• Conway’s truck drifted off the left shoulder of the highway near White Plains and struck the column of an overpass.
• Extend right arm and turn head to look over right shoulder.
• The best goalkeeper in women’s soccer was rehabilitating her right shoulder after having major reconstructive surgery in September.
• The birthmark on my left shoulder suddenly itched and burned, like a warning.

The third most frequent adjective is cold, as in:

• Hardie half expected the reaction he received: the cold shoulder.
• He kept getting the cold shoulder.
• The military meantime continued to give him the cold shoulder.

 
Can you guess the meaning? Does the picture give you any idea?

• Initially, it was Greek and Portuguese banks that got the cold shoulder from American lenders.
• Locanda Verde: Manhattan foodies gave a cold shoulder to Ago, the inaugural restaurant within the Greenwich Hotel.
• She would have given him the cold shoulder and completely shut him out until he saw reason and left her alone.
• Arnold Schwarzenegger campaigned along with Bush to support his re-election in 2004, but now seems to be giving him a cold shoulder.
• In addition. the Chinese government and the Chinese military establishment turned a cold shoulder to North Korea after the tests.
• Clinton began his first term by turning a cold shoulder to the White House press corps.
• The temptation is strong to turn a cold shoulder to those who challenge or offend us.

• He covered her bare shoulder with a clammy hand.
• Abdul tossed her hair to the right side, hiding her bare shoulder.
• Quick Mike walks over to a peg and hangs a gunbelt over his bare shoulder.

• Her dressing gown slipped off her naked shoulder, prompting one of his eyebrows to rise.
• At one point I felt a moment of panic when I saw a naked shoulder protruding from his bathrobe.

• Estelle reached out a hand for her son’s bony shoulder and gave it a little shake.

Bony Shoulder

Front Shoulder

• Noreen holds her daughter by her bony shoulder and wipes her nose.

• Stretches hip flexors, quadriceps, front shoulder and upper chest.
• Strengthens chest, front shoulder and triceps.

There are also very specialized collocations:

• New front shoulder belts on sedans have comfort adjusters.
• …front shoulder belts anchor directly to the adjoining backrest, clearing an entry path for rear passengers.

• This cut can come from the front shoulder, but more tender cuts come from the “round,” or rump, area.

Lamb Shoulder Chop

• I drop my arm onto his narrow shoulder.
• He placed a hand on Faith Ann’s narrow shoulder and silently pointed to the animals.
• Across his broad shoulder, he carried a nude body.
• Franny remembered how he’d wrapped a long arm around Harley’s broad shoulder as they laughed.
• But in a way we do run the world. We’re that soft shoulder for men to fall back on.
• Aimee Dearth needed a soft shoulder to cry on.
• I was exhausted by it all and dropped my head on the man’s thin shoulder.
• She shrugged one thin shoulder.

• He slid sideways again, moving off the highway altogether, onto the narrow shoulder.
• He was on a narrow shoulder, barely off the pavement.
• Early the next afternoon Hill was scouting the road’s soft shoulder for fresh tracks when the farmer who owned the adjoining property drove up.
• The car tumbles off the road onto a soft shoulder.

• Beecher reportedly is slowed by a sore shoulder and an intestinal infection.
• On the way to the court, I asked Kobe, still nursing a sore shoulder, if he was up to doing a little running.
• Pineda has been on the DL [disabled list] since July 3 with a sore shoulder.

 Some injuries can be quite serious though:

• A separated shoulder is essentially a sprain, and should be treated with ice and anti-inflammatories.
• Alexander walked away unharmed while his running mate, Mark Ross, suffered a separated shoulder and a cut above his left eye.
• OF John Wehner (separated shoulder) will begin a minor league rehab assignment.
• He suffered a separated shoulder in August and missed the first two games of the season.

Separated shoulder

Dislocated shoulder

• Rondeau, would you be a dear and help me pop my dislocated shoulder back in?
• The Minnesota Timberwolves’ forward is in his seventh year in the NBA, though currently sidelined with a dislocated shoulder.
• Streeter hobbled off the field with a dislocated shoulder.
• And Joan Kennedy is in a Boston hospital today with a concussion and a broken shoulder.
• His sister-in-law suffered internal injuries and a broken shoulder but recovered.
• Others have raced with broken shoulder blades; still others have raced with worse.
• Defending champion Tony Stewart intends to do just that Sunday at Dover International Speedway, where he’ll strap into his No. 20 Chevrolet with a broken shoulder blade and race at more than 150 mph, for a few laps at least, before yielding to a relief driver — assuming he surrenders the wheel at all.

• Frozen shoulder occurs when the joint capsule of the shoulder joint becomes inflamed.
• Another complication can be a frozen shoulder, caused in part by favoring the painful side of your body.
• One common problem is “frozen shoulder,” in which the joint gets so sore and stiff that moving the arm becomes difficult.

He was holding his arm again, in pain from the injured shoulder.

But there are less serious injuries:

• McNair is listed as questionable for Tennessee’s game with Cincinnati because of a bruised shoulder.
• Bradley had a bruised shoulder from the seat belt.

• Pierre shrugged with his good shoulder, that Gallic gesture that contained a treatise.
• Without asking, he flung me over his good shoulder and began running up the stairs three at a time.

Hoping you will never be affected by any of those injuries, let’s move to a more pleasant domain, garments:

• The Amazon parrot is sitting on the padded shoulder of his thrift-store sport coat.
• He reaches forward, takes hold of his mother’s padded shoulder, and squeezes gently.
• You’re right, I say, patting Max on the padded shoulder of his suit jacket.

Padded Shoulders

Padded shoulder straps

• A waterproof zipper, padded shoulder strap and clear waterproof pocket are additional features.
• My father held up my backpack and I slid into the padded shoulder straps.
• Its four adjustable nylon straps and thickly padded shoulder straps ensure a comfortable, snug fit.

 
Shoulder straps are not necessarily padded. Simple shoulder straps can be broad or thin:
Broad shoulder straps and a padded back panel make carrying heavy loads a little easier.

Broad shoulder straps

Thin shoulder straps

In case you’re wondering how to say  – in Portuguese – some of the collocations we’ve seen in English here’s a short list of possible translations:
                                     Broken shoulder = ombro quebrado
Bruised shoulder = ombro ferido
Dislocated shoulder = ombro deslocado
Frozen shoulder = ombro congelado
Padded shoulder straps = alças acolchoadas
Padded shoulders = ombreiras
Separated shoulder = ombro separado
Shoulder (in a road) = acostamento
Shoulder blade = omoplata
Shoulder straps = alças
                                     Sore shoulder = ombro doloroso
That’s it for now.
Stella
______________________________________________
Stella E. O. Tagnin professora associada do Departamento de Letras Modernas, FFLCH, da USP. Embora aposentada, continua orientando em nível de pós-graduação nas áreas de Tradução, Terminologia, Ensino e Aprendizagem, sempre com base na Lingüística de Corpus. É coordenadora do Projeto CoMET.
e-mail: seotagni@usp.br.