Cold SlawColeslaw ... or is it cold slaw?! Since coleslaw, like most salads, is traditionally served cold, calling it “cold slaw” seems a little redundant. Death Knell vs. Death NailIt’s death knell, not death nail. A death knell specifically marked a person’s death, and the phrase eventually caught on to describe a figurative marker of any end. A business can have a death knell, a relationship can have a death knell, and so on.