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 more useful idioms related to winter and the cold. Go ahead and read them, and don’t get cold feet.
1. get cold feet—v. phr., to decide suddenly not to do something, to suddenly become afraid to do it. This idiom dates from the late 1800s.
Examples:
Barry was ready to move to Italy when he suddenly got cold feet and canceled the move.
Frank looked nervous on the morning of his wedding. “What’s the matter?” his father asked. “Getting cold feet?”
2. pure as the driven snow—adj. phr., innocent, morally good. Purehere means “clean” or “not dirty” and thus innocent. Snow then is white, even pureor completely white. Driven, which means “carried by the wind,” is often omitted. This idiom is used less today.
Example:
The mayor was pure as the driven snow, so everyone trusted him.
3. snow under—v. phr., overwhelmed, such as by work. This phrase pictures being buried by snow. It is often used in the passive voice: be snowed over.
Example:
We were snowed over with work, so we all stayed at the office late.
4. cold spell—n. phr., a short period of very cold weather. In addition to meaning “write or say the letters of a word,” spell means a period of time, as in I worked as a fisherman for a spell. The idiom cold spell, and also cold snap, is common for a sudden cold weather.
Examples:
The weather report says we have a cold spell coming.
The sudden cold spell interrupted to planned golf tournament.
5. cold shoulder—n. phr., not being nice or polite to someone, deliberate bad treatment. The idiom is said to come from a custom where people welcome guests they like with a warm meal, but offering only a cold meal to people they don’t like. The phrase is often used with give.
Examples:
Nate asked Sara on a date, but she gave him the cold shoulder and just walked away.
Denise has given me the cold shoulder ever since I accidentally broke her cellphone.
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