i quit cold turkey
quit what?
cold turkey
yeah but what did you quit
im telling you, i quit cold turkey
alcohol?
no i quit cold turkey
i wasnt offering, im trying to figure out what you quit
and im telling you i quit cold turkey
wait. you quit cold turkey?
yes i quit cold turkey
like the meat?
no i dont like it thats why i quit it
cold turkey?
no im gradually weaning myself off it
"Quitting cold turkey" is a phrase in early twenty-first century English that refers to ceasing a habit (especially an addictive one) completely and without any mitigation factors. There is an expectation that the individual will suffer the full effects of withdrawal with the hope that, should they make it to the other side, the addiction will be gone completely. This is in contrast with weaning off a habit by reducing frequency or intensity over time, or replacing a habit with a similar, but less harmful one.
The above conversation is a joke based on a misunderstanding. The first person is talking about quitting the consumption of leftover meat (literal "cold turkey"), while the second person is under the mistaken impression that they are describing the method of quitting while failing to describe the substance/habit that is being quit.
Some other points of linguistic confusion in the joke include "alcohol?" being potentially interpreted as both "did you quit alcohol?" and "do you want alcohol?" and "like the meat" as both "Are you referring to cold turkey in reference to the meat?" and "Do you enjoy the meat?"
This style of comedy of mutual misunderstanding over potential interpretations of words is associated with Abbot and Costello's famous "Who's on first" skit, but it is a known genre of wordplay/comedy.
