Idioms make English more colorful and fun, but they are
difficult to learn because there are so many of them. A good solution for
learners is to study a small number of phrases that are related by topic. This makes
them easier to learn and easier to remember.
Here are some useful idioms related to winter and the cold.
1. dead of winter—n.
phr., the coldest part of winter. This idiom dates from the 1600s. Dead of is used to mean the most intense
part of something. A similar idiom is the
dead of night, which means the darkest part of the night.
Examples:
It’s the dead of winter, so you’ll find few birds here in
the cold.
The thief disappeared into the dead of night.
2. break the ice—v.
phr., to say or do something to start a conversation; to say or do something
that gets people to relax.
Examples:
The instructor told a few jokes at the beginning of the
class to break the ice.
Hal gets nervous when he meets people, but you can break the
ice by asking him about sports. He loves sports.
3. on thin ice—adj.
phr., in a risky or dangerous position. This idiom alludes to walking or
skating on thin ice, which easily breaks. In places where lakes and ponds
freeze over, people who want to ice skate or go ice fishing have to see if the
ice is thick enough to walk on. The phrase is sometimes used with walking or skating: walking on thin ice, skating on thin ice.
Examples:
Shelly knew she was walking on thin ice when she came late
to work for a third time in one week.
Carl was on thin ice with his father after he scratched his
father’s car.
4. snowball effect—n.
phr. A situation in which something gets increasingly worse or bigger. Think
about taking a small snowball rolling along the ground, and it gets
larger and larger as it goes.
Example:
As more people bought the stock, its price increased, making
even more people want to invest in the company. It was a snowball effect.
5. snowball’s chance in
hell—n. phr., very unlikely, or having no chance of success. This idiom, which
dates from the 1800s, pictures hell as an extremely hot place, with lots of
fire. A snowball of course would not be very successful in hell, as it would
quickly melt.
Example:
Leslie doesn’t have a snowball’s change in hell of getting a
job at that company; she doesn’t have enough experience.
Learn more idioms by topic with Quick Targets in English.
