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. Pure
here means “clean” or “not dirty” and thus innocent. Snow then is white, even pure
or 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.
