[homoe]

"Break the ice" "An Icebreaker".........


To break down a social stiffness in order for things to be more comfortable. This phrase is sometimes used when two people are meeting for the first time.

Sidebar: Some people may think that the phrase break the ice comes from steam-powered icebreaker ships that were designed in the 1800s. While traveling through ice-covered waters can be challenging, these ships were built to make navigation through the arctic regions of the world a bit easier.

So then, does the expression “break the ice” come from these types of ships? No, this is not the source of its origin because this phrase actually goes back to the 17th century, which means it precedes the creation of the icebreaker ships. For example, this expression makes an early appearance in a poem by Samuel Butler.