# You don't want to go out in the rain; someone says: "You won't melt." **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 21, 2006, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-want-to-go-out-in-the-rain-someone-says-you-wont-melt/365465 "2006-07-21T12:36:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2006, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-want-to-go-out-in-the-rain-someone-says-you-wont-melt/365465/1 "2006-07-21T12:36:07Z")
Am I correct in assuming that the phrase was inspired by _The Wizard of Oz_? Or did it come from somewhere else and a witch being melted by water happened to co-opt it? ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2006, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-want-to-go-out-in-the-rain-someone-says-you-wont-melt/365465/2 "2006-07-21T12:43:17Z")
I always heard it as “you won’t melt, you’re not made of sugar”. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2006, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-want-to-go-out-in-the-rain-someone-says-you-wont-melt/365465/3 "2006-07-21T12:44:21Z")
My mother used to say either “you’re not a witch”, or “you’re not made of cotton candy”. So I don’t think the phrase is directly from The Wizard of Oz. They’re just chiding the unwilling rain-goer, asking what the consequences would be. I’ve been out in the rain with _bona fide_ witches. They didn’t melt. Some of 'em got mad, though. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2006, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-want-to-go-out-in-the-rain-someone-says-you-wont-melt/365465/4 "2006-07-21T13:33:14Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] I’ve been out in the rain with _bona fide_ witches. They didn’t melt. Some of 'em got mad, though. [/QUOTE] Obviously, they weren’t as _bona fide_ as you thought. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2006, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-want-to-go-out-in-the-rain-someone-says-you-wont-melt/365465/5 "2006-07-21T13:46:22Z")
[QUOTE=fluiddruid] I always heard it as “you won’t melt, you’re not made of sugar”. [/QUOTE] It was meant in that context first. I believe that the shortened version started being confussed with with the OZ series. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2006, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-want-to-go-out-in-the-rain-someone-says-you-wont-melt/365465/6 "2006-07-21T13:48:36Z")
I think that it may have had more to do with spun sugar, such as cotton candy, witch melts away on a humid or rainy day. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2006, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-want-to-go-out-in-the-rain-someone-says-you-wont-melt/365465/7 "2006-07-21T14:21:26Z")
A variation is “If you’re made of sugar, you’ll melt, if you’re made of shit, you’ll float”. Like a “turd floater”. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2006, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-want-to-go-out-in-the-rain-someone-says-you-wont-melt/365465/8 "2006-07-21T14:29:45Z")
My response to them: “Did you see _Alien Nation_?” I don’t do rain. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2006, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-want-to-go-out-in-the-rain-someone-says-you-wont-melt/365465/9 "2006-07-21T14:48:44Z")
**AHunter3** It rains saltwater in New York? ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2006, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-want-to-go-out-in-the-rain-someone-says-you-wont-melt/365465/10 "2006-07-21T16:03:52Z")
If you have hair like mine, though, you will _look_ like a ball of cotton candy… ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2006, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-want-to-go-out-in-the-rain-someone-says-you-wont-melt/365465/11 "2006-07-21T16:06:27Z")
I remember reading a science fiction short story (by Isaac Asimov I think) that had a strange family living next door with the name of Sakharov. One day the child protagonist notices the family running home to avoid the beginning rain, but don’t reach the front door before the storm bursts - you can imagine the sad ending. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2006, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-want-to-go-out-in-the-rain-someone-says-you-wont-melt/365465/12 "2006-07-21T16:08:16Z")
[QUOTE=Harmonious Discord] I think that it may have had more to do with spun sugar, such as cotton candy, witch melts away on a humid or rainy day. [/QUOTE] Ah, thanks. Cotten candy predates the movie by some 30 years. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2006, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-want-to-go-out-in-the-rain-someone-says-you-wont-melt/365465/13 "2006-07-21T16:28:07Z")
In my family, the saying typically goes “You’re not sweet enough to melt, nor old enough to rust”. Of course, there was also a rusty character in Oz… ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2006, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-want-to-go-out-in-the-rain-someone-says-you-wont-melt/365465/14 "2006-07-21T16:31:31Z")
There is also “you’re not made of chocolate: you won’t melt”.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2006, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-want-to-go-out-in-the-rain-someone-says-you-wont-melt/365465/15 "2006-07-21T16:46:02Z")
> [@](#): > > Of course, there was also a rusty character in Oz… You know, it’s always bothered me that the _Tin_ Woodsman would have a problem with _rust_. yeah, yeah. I’ve heard the excuses – Tin corrodes, too (although I’ve never heard it called “rust”). Or they used iron or steel fittings that rusted. Or whatever. I still think that a tin guy shouldn’t “rust”. They shoulda galvanized him. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2006, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-want-to-go-out-in-the-rain-someone-says-you-wont-melt/365465/16 "2006-07-21T16:49:03Z")
[QUOTE=Arnold Winkelried] I remember reading a science fiction short story (by Isaac Asimov I think) that had a strange family living next door with the name of Sakharov. One day the child protagonist notices the family running home to avoid the beginning rain, but don’t reach the front door before the storm bursts - you can imagine the sad ending. [/QUOTE] Yeah, I read that . . . I never did see the point of the story. ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2006, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-want-to-go-out-in-the-rain-someone-says-you-wont-melt/365465/17 "2006-07-21T17:04:24Z")
[QUOTE=fluiddruid] I always heard it as “you won’t melt, you’re not made of sugar”. [/QUOTE] I always heard it “You’re not made of salt; you won’t melt.” I always assumed that was a reference to Lot’s wife being turned into a pillar of salt. How weird is that?!?? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2006, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-want-to-go-out-in-the-rain-someone-says-you-wont-melt/365465/18 "2006-07-21T17:13:43Z")
The proper response is “I may not be a witch but I still wouldn’t want a house to fall on me.” ---
**Author:** ![Standard\_Nathan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Standard\_Nathan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Standard_Nathan)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2006, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-want-to-go-out-in-the-rain-someone-says-you-wont-melt/365465/19 "2006-07-21T17:45:38Z")
[QUOTE=Excalibre] Yeah, I read that . . . I never did see the point of the story. [/QUOTE] I think, like “Shah Guido G.”, it was just a shaggy dog story. it was a weird one though. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2006, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-want-to-go-out-in-the-rain-someone-says-you-wont-melt/365465/20 "2006-07-21T17:50:39Z")
There are a few references to the date of the movie. It shouldn’t be forgotten that the book The Wizard of Oz by Frank Baum was published in 1900. Unless the melting is original to the film, the date of the movie has no real significance. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-dont-want-to-go-out-in-the-rain-someone-says-you-wont-melt/365465.md?page=2)