AS COLD AS
STONE
MEANING
It can refer both for objects or people: if
something is as cols as stone, it means that it is very cold; if someone is as
cold as stone, it means that he/she is unemotional. There are severla
equivalents in Spanish for this idiom: "tan frío como el hielo" (when
meaning very cold), "tan duro como una piedra" (when meaning
unemotional).
ORIGIN
This idioms comes from Shakespeare's Henry V,
1598,
Hostess:
[...]
So a' cried out 'God, God, God!' three or
four times. Now I, to comfort him, bid him a'
should not think of God; I hoped there was no need
to trouble himself with any such thoughts yet. So
a' bade me lay more clothes on his feet: I put my
hand into the bed and felt them, and they were as
cold as any stone; then I felt to his knees, and
they were as cold as any stone, and so upward and
upward, and all was as cold as any stone.
So a' cried out 'God, God, God!' three or
four times. Now I, to comfort him, bid him a'
should not think of God; I hoped there was no need
to trouble himself with any such thoughts yet. So
a' bade me lay more clothes on his feet: I put my
hand into the bed and felt them, and they were as
cold as any stone; then I felt to his knees, and
they were as cold as any stone, and so upward and
upward, and all was as cold as any stone.
EXAMPLES
When Emily told us the story, we all were
touched except Peter; he is cold as stone!
We couldn't sit in that bench because it was
cold as stone due to last night freeze.
BREAK THE ICE
MEANING
To break down social formality and stiffness.
The equivalent in Spanish would be “romper el hielo”
ORIGIN
The earlier meaning of this phrase, that is,
'to forge a path for others to follow', alludes of course to the breaking of
ice to allow the navigation of boats. The figurative use is quite old and was
recorded by Sir Thomas North in his 1579 translation of Plutarch's Lives of the
noble Grecians and Romanes:
"To be the first to break the Ice of the
Enterprize."
It wasn't until the latter part of the 17th
century that it took on its current meaning of 'establish a relaxed
relationship in socially awkward situations'; for example, Samuel Butler's
Hudibras, 1678:
"The Oratour - At last broke silence, and
the Ice."
EXAMPLES
What do you do in a new class to help break the
ice and get students talking?
As there was an uncomfortable silence, I
decided to talk about the weather to break the ice.
SEA CHANGE
MEANING
A radical change or transformation. The
equivalent in Spanish would be “cambio radical”
ORIGIN
From Shakespeare's The Tempest, 1610:
ARIEL [sings]:
Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell
Shakespeare's usage incorporates the current
meaning, that is, a radical change. He also made the expression richer by
alluding to the literal meaning, that is, 'a change that is brought about by
the sea'.
EXAMPLES
The beginning of my university studies was a
sea change in my life.
There has been a sea change in town; when I
came back I realized lots of things have changed.
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