2013年聖誕期間，加拿大東部的暴風雪（ice storm），報章有一段貼切的描述：
“Toronto’s electricity supply in the aftermath of a nearly perfect storm—a punishing tumult of freezing rain and ice, ice, ice—that skidded into the city last Saturday night, toppling trees, slicing off branches and severing power to hundreds of thousands of homes.”（Toronto Star, 28-12-2013）
先談 snow 雪的詞語：snow in 被雪封住，困在建築物中，unable to leave a building because of accumulated snow，而 snow under 表示工作忙不過來，with a lot of work to do；as white as snow 淨白如雪；pure as the driven snow 純潔無瑕； a snow job 指以花言巧語說服他人或恭維他人，an attempt to persuade or deceive others by praising them or not telling them the truth。
再談 ice 冰的詞語：icy 被冰覆蓋的，covered with ice：the roads are very icy and slippery 或 as cold as ice：an icy wind 極冷的風；in an icy crisis, our warmest hearts emerge 冰暴危機中見温情。你在會議或派對進行中，開個頭，打破沉默，說些話或做些事，令場合輕鬆，氣氛活潑，you break the ice, you initiate conversation or social interchanges to get something started; you do anything to make strangers friendly to one another。有些人沒對你起到深刻印象，或者根本未有引起你的注意，沒有影響：they cut no ice with you, they have no influence and effect on you。如臨深淵，如履薄冰，形容處於危險或困難境地，可能有不良後果或不堪設想的情况：the English idiom “skate on thin ice” refers to a risky situation which is dangerous or unwise, the danger being unknown to the speaker。錦上添花，不必要的裝飾物或點綴品接近英文成語 icing on the cake 的意思，it means a decorative but unnecessary addition, an extra good thing that makes a situation or an activity even better。If put something on ice, you postpone it 擱置某事，延遲進行：We’ll have to put that idea on ice, we must lay it aside 我們必須把此事暫時擱起來。
Ice storm 雪暴有不少聯想，而 storm 暴風雨也有不同的說法：When a storm starts, it breaks; when a storm finishes, it dies down。We have different kinds of storm：
雨暴 rainstorm, a storm with very heavy rain；
雪暴 snowstorm, a heavy fall of snow with a strong cold wind；
冰暴 ice storm, a storm of freezing rain；
暴風雪 blizzard, a bad snowstorm；
雹暴 hailstorm, a storm with hard frozen rain which falls as small pieces of ice；
雷雨 thunderstorm, a storm with thunder and lightning。
Storm 的習用語：The calm after a storm 雨過天青，否極泰來，after a storm comes a calm；而 the calm before the storm 或 the lull before the storm means a peaceful and quiet period before a period of activity and trouble 暴風雨前的平靜。Any port in a storm 字面意思是暴風雨中的港口，引申出危急時的避難所，窮途末路時慌不擇路，飢不擇食，有病亂投醫； when a person is having serious trouble, he may accept any solution whether he likes it or not，半條麵包總比沒有好，half a loaf is better than no bread，聊勝於無。You weather the storm 表示渡過難關或克服困難，未遭到嚴重傷害或惡劣影響：you experienced and survived a storm and were not harmed during a difficult period。You bend before the storm 表示在輿論壓力面前屈服，在公眾的義憤下投降。You take somebody by storm 完全征服，令對方神魂顛倒，you make a great impression on somebody 强烈感染某人，使觀眾傾倒；you take somewhere by storm 表示你在某地很成功，大受歡迎，讓當地民眾留下深刻的印象。
In the eye of a storm 這句成語，源自暴風雨的中央地帶，當龍捲風或旋風括起時，氣旋的風眼，低氣壓集往往結在比較平靜的中心，比喻你深入或涉及高難度又具爭議的事情，you are in the centre of argument and controversy。A storm in a teacup 茶杯裹的風波，即是小事引起的軒然大波。美語是 a tempest in a teapot 小題大作, 大驚小怪。
本專欄逢周二、五發表
