Breaking the ice

In today’s context, ‘breaking the ice’ will mean ‘creating a friendly and relaxed atmosphere in an awkward or unfriendly situation. Originally, however, ‘breaking the ice’ meant actually breaking the ice by the ice breaker ships with strong outer hulls and powerful engines that broke the large pieces of ice into smaller pieces, thus helping the boats to sail through the icy water in the polar regions.

Shakespeare used this phrase with the present meaning in his ‘Taming of the Shrew’.

We use this phrase quite commonly in sentences such as, ‘When we meet strangers, giving a warm smile usually helps to break the ice.’

image: An ice breaker ship

55Sudha Venkatesh, Shivram Aashish and 53 others

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