Cold Turkey Defined ~

As you prepare you Turkey Dinner for the Holidays here are some thoughts about leftovers ~ or at least thoughts about the term
"Cold Turkey".

There appears to be two acceptable and viable origins of the term;
Cold Turkey.
One being without preparation -- like a left-over turkey dinner. First used as far back as the 1920s in relation to heroin or cocaine addiction. A left over or ‘cold turkey’ dinner is one that requires very little to no preparation - hence, doing something ‘cold turkey’ took on the meaning of actions being taken abruptly … without preparation.

The second most communally accepted origin comes from a reference to a to the physical attributes an addict may take on after stopping a powerful drug such as heroin immediately and abruptly.

When an addict decides to give up heroin with out any sort of support or drug replacement the body has a tendency to react by turning cold and clammy; sweaty and goose bumped much like that which resembles the appearance of a cold, unprepared turkey.

There is a third possibility; that of ‘talking turkey’. To talk turkey with someone is to get down to business straight away … blunt, straight forward speaking. It is plausible that the allusion is to the direct, no nonsense approach of giving up narcotics, alcohol or tobacco indicated by the 'plain speaking' meaning of the term ala Harry Truman.