brick

/brik/

adjective

Meaning

Informal, regionally marked slang used mainly in and around New York City, brick means extremely cold or freezing. It most often describes the weather in phrases such as it’s brick outside or it’s brick out, but it can also describe an indoor space or other setting that feels intensely cold.[1]

1. Extremely cold weather or outdoor conditions: It’s brick outside.
2. By extension, an indoor place or thing that feels intensely cold: The apartment is brick without the heat on.

Examples

“It’s brick outside—grab your heaviest coat.”

“Why did I leave the house? It’s brick.”

“The train platform was brick this morning.”

“Open a window if you want, but the whole room is brick now.”

“It’s brick out, so I’m ordering in.”

Origin and spread

The modern adjective is associated with African American English in New York City and its surrounding areas. The available record shows the standalone slang sense circulating by 2005, including a documented example in Vibe: “when it’s brick outside.” Earlier phrases such as cold as a brick and brick cold show that brick had already been linked with coldness, but they do not by themselves establish the origin of the modern standalone adjective. The exact formative path remains uncertain; the slang may draw on the familiar idea of a brick feeling cold in winter or on the image of cold weather hitting with the force of a brick.

How to use it

Brick is emphatic, casual, and regionally marked. It is most natural in conversation, texts, captions, and social posts, especially in it’s brick outside and it’s brick out. People unfamiliar with the slang may first read brick as the ordinary noun, so use clear weather context when speaking to a broad audience.

Sources

1. Merriam-Webster — BRICK Slang MeaningSupports: meaning.
2. Wiktionary — brick