English Phraseology: Winter Bites

It snowed heavily in my town yesterday. As I was shoveling, I started thinking about a few the vocabulary words associated to snow & winter. Here is what I came up with.

Compound Words:

• Snowfall:  snow that falls in a particular place
• Snow Storm:  heavy snowfall with strong winds also know as blizzard
• Snowplow : a vehicle that pushes snow to the side of the road
• Snowball fight: what kids love to do when it snows…throwing snowballs at each other

Vocabulary Boost:

• The snow should start melting today. It’s sunny. (i.e. it will transform into water and disappear. We can also use the verb to thaw which is a synonym)
• The roads are treacherous. (i.e. it’s dangerous to drive on them because of ice and snow)
• Did the snow settle in your area? (i.e. Did it stay on the ground?)
• We were snowed in last night. (i.e. we couldn’t leave home because of the snow)

Idioms in Context:

• I’m snowed under at work. I can’t leave before 9pm every night this week. (i.e. I’ve got an excessive amount of work to do)
• The managing director’s dismissal has had a snowball effect. There have been 20 resignations ever since. (i.e. it’s created a trend…more and more people are leaving)

Fluency Builder: Discuss the following questions in class or with a friend to practice speaking a little English today.

1. Do you like the cold or do you feel more in your element when it’s hot?
2. Have you made a snowman this year?
3. Do you ski? If so, can you describe your favorite skiing spot?
4. Have you ever been snowed in due to a blizzard? How did you manage?

Can you think of any other useful expressions related to snow, winter and cold weather? We look forward to your posts!

This was inspired by the 3 hours of winter fun I had with my kids yesterday!

Lem..xo!