Forum: ell.stackexchange.com
Tags: <word-request><phrase-request><idioms><emphasis>
Title: "Ice cold" vs. "___ hot" in a professional context?
Question: Suppose I just had Iced Coffee with hot chocolate cake and I want to describe it to others.  I can use "I had an ice cold coffee" but then I'm stuck with the second part. None of the things I can think of really fits, e.g. "steam hot", "sun hot", "oven hot", etc.  Is there any noun I can use in this context to describe something hot?

Answers:
sents: text: If you're describing liquids that are too hot for you , use scalding : very hot; burning.
text: e.g. Watch out, the tea is still scaldingly hot!
text: For food or liquids that are a pleasant temperature, use piping : (of food or water) very hot.
text: e.g. "The food's piping hot!"
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/28911/John Clifford
score: 61
sents: text: Since you yourself suggested 'steam hot' - the correct version would be steaming hot , so hot that steam is rising from it:
text: adverb (as submodifier steaming hot)
text: Extremely hot: a steaming hot night [...]
text: He thinks, too, of pumpkin pie and fresh harvested honey and steaming hot cocoa.
text: according to the OED .
text: "I just had an ice cold coffee with some steaming hot chocolate cake".
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/25865/CompuChip
score: 30
sents: text: With a certain amount of hyperbole at play, you might refer to something as being red hot .
text: My coffee machine only makes drinks that are ice cold or red hot.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/9835/Richard
score: 24
sents: text: I'm surprised that no one has suggested boiling hot.
text: Maybe it is a British English idiom:
text: Be careful with that cup of tea
text: , it's boiling hot...
text: I've only just poured it.
text: Also, as an example Can you open the window?
text: It's boiling hot in here! or Can you open the window?
text: I'm boiling hot!
text: It can also be used for objects that do not actually physically boil, for example:
text: Be careful of those sausages, they are boiling hot and you will burn your mouth.
text: They have just come off the barbecue.
text: I would add that, in British English at least, scalding hot sounds a little too old fashioned, and something that you might read in a old (30's-60's)
text: children's story book, or your grandmother (or someone born in the 20's) might say (at least that's what springs to my mind).
text: However, having re-read your question, for a professional context, John's answer could be more appropriate, as boiling is somewhat colloquial.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/15311/Greenonline
score: 11
sents: text: Fiery hot or flaming hot work.
text: "Flaming hot" best if there's actual fire involved, e.g.
text: "a flaming hot skillet of fajita toppings".
text: While "fiery hot" might describe the extra spicy sauce for said fajitas.
text: Not sure I'd use either of them for a cake though.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/25620/Darrel Hoffman
score: 3
sents: text: This doesn't fit the noun requirement, but "smoking hot" came to mind for general informal use.
text: It suggests an exceptional amount of heat.
text: In a more formal context, I'd go with "steaming hot" or "piping hot".
text: If you want to imply that it was too hot to safely eat, "scalding hot" could work nicely.
text: "Ice-cold" does refer to a noun.
text: The term is used a lot in reference to beverages that have been chilled by adding ice, or have been chilled nearly to the freezing point of water.
text: Ice is probably the coldest thing we normally encounter.
text: On the other hand there are many levels of heat.
text: "Hot" could refer to a shower, coffee, boiling water, a heating element that's started glowing, fire, and so on.
text: Any of these could be encountered between waking up and eating breakfast, so there's not one that seems to stand out as an ideal reference point.
text: It's more about what you can observe; something could be releasing steam, hot enough to burn your mouth, hot enough to emit smoke, or actually on fire.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/31425/GargantuChet
score: 2
sents: text: Blazing Hot From reverso
text: it says Blazing sun or blazing hot weather is very hot.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/22179/Cary Bondoc
score: 2
sents: text: The most common adjective I've seen is "searing" hot: marked by extreme intensity, harshness, or emotional power
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/29527/Cloud
score: 2
sents: text: "boiling hot" "This drink is boiling hot ."
text: Corresponds quite nicely to the
text: "This drink is ice cold ."
text: Perhaps generally used for describing liquid.
text: (Other than this, I would say CompuChip's answer: "steaming hot" is the other option that seems to be most directly similar to " ice cold " if you're trying to describe a drink.
text: Many of the other answers, like " blazing hot ", are also good for describing hotness, and might even be better in some other contexts.
text: For instance, a Fudgsicle (a Popsicle made of chocolate/fudge) might be quite literally " ice cold ", but super-spicy food might be described as " blazing hot ", possibly trying to reference the flames on a grill).
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/17653/TOOGAM
score: 1
sents: text: A way to compare to the illustration created by ice cold, could be to go for another natural hot liquid.
text: Consider "lava" hot.
text: This term is used in foods like "lava cake" which is a chocolate cake that has hot chocolate syrup in it.
text: This "equates" better if you are trying to create a mental picture using natural forces.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/31407/Everett
score: 0

Summary of the answers:
Blazing hot, searing hot, boiling hot, flaming hot, smoking hot, piping hot, red hot or scalding are all antonyms for ice cold.
Blazing, boiling, fiery, smoking, piping, red and scalding may all be used depending on context.