Cold as stone

This simile for expressing coldness, whether literally or figuratively, was used by Shakespeare in Henry V (1598) Act II, Scene III, “and all was as cold as any stone”. It is not certain that Shakespeare coined the expression because there are citations for 'cold, deaf and blind as a stone' that date from the 1400s. Stone-cold, stone-deaf, stone-dead, stone-blind etc are of course adjectival phrases that derive from the original simile and are probably just as old, all alluding to the inertness and lifelessness of stones. In more recent times, however, stone-cold has come to mean absolute or absolutely, as in 'stone-cold sober' or 'a stone-cold certainty'. This usage dates from the early 20th century. In all probability, this is what football commentators are really trying to say when they talk about a 'stonewall penalty' describing a blatant or certain penalty, but who really knows what football commentators are talking about most of the time. See also Stonewall.