英国人见面寒暄的开场白，十之八九是从天气开始的。作为四面环海的岛国，由于受到四季海风的影响，英国的天气变化很快，英国人甚至认为“在英国本土没有气候，只有天气”（There is no climate in England, but only weather.）。英语里有许多和天气有关的习语被广泛地应用。下面笔者就这类常见习语做一简单介绍：
一、weather 天气
1. I am feeling a bit under the weather this morning. I kept up very late last night.
今天早晨我有点儿不舒服，昨天晚上睡得很晚。
2. Keep a weather eye open for any small faults with your car — if they are not repaired immediately they could cost you a lot of money.
留意你车子的任何小毛病——如果不及时修理，以后可能要花好多钱。
3. Bob, my fair-weather friend, left me when I badly needed his help.
鲍伯是我的一位不能共患难的朋友，当我正需要他的时候，他却走了。
4. The young man made terribly heavy weather of mending the puncture. It only took a few minutes when he finally did it.
这个年轻人对修补扎破的车胎小题大做了，他最后只用几分钟就补好了。
二、rain 雨
5. Come rain or shine, I’ll meet you at nine tomorrow morning at the cinema.
明天早上九点无论如何我都在电影院和你见面。
6. After graduation, you’d better put some money by for a rainy day.
你们毕业后最好积蓄一些钱以备不时之需。
7. It was raining cats and dogs when I was on my way to my school.
在上学的路上，我遇到一场倾盆大雨。
三、snow 雪
8. How Alice has changed! When she was a teenager, she was as pure as the driven snow.
艾丽斯的变化多大啊！在她十六七岁的时候，她的心地纯洁无瑕。
9. Since they issued the prospectus, they have been snowed under with inquiries.
计划书发布后，他们被大量的咨询弄得焦头烂额。
四、ice 冰
10. The girl’s joke broke the ice. We all relaxed afterward.
这女孩的笑话使气氛活跃起来，之后大家都不那么拘谨了。
11. You were skating on thin ice when you praised his ex-girl friend’s book. Didn’t you know they have nothing to do with each other?
你赞扬了他前女友的书，这可是个很敏感的问题。难道你不知道他们之间已经没有来往了吗？
12. David’s success at school and college cut no ice with the HR. What they wanted was a man with practical experience.
戴维在中学和大学的优异成绩对人事部门不起作用，他们需要的是有实践经验的人。
13. Finally we had to put your plan on ice. We would have another look at it in half a year.
最后我们只能把你的计划暂时放在一旁，半年后再研究一下。
五、chill 寒冷
14. The news of the death of the hero cast a chill over the party, and we all sat about in gloomy silence.
在聚会上听到这位英雄去世的消息，大家都非常难过，默不作声。
15. What he saw in the room chilled his blood. 他在房间里看到的情景令他毛骨悚然。
六、fog 雾
16. The man hasn’t the foggiest idea what we are talking about.
那家伙对我们所说的事情一无所知。
17. When we saw Bob that evening, he was all in a fog about what to do.
那天晚上我们看见鲍勃时，他对要做什么茫然困惑。
七、cloud 云
18. The difficulties are only temporary. We must wait till the clouds roll by.
困难只是暂时的，我们必须等待有利时机。
19．It’s no good asking him about this matter. He has his head in the clouds.
问他这件事情没有用，他总是白日做梦，不切实际。
20．Don’t be so over pessimistic. After all, every cloud has a silver lining.
不要过于悲观，毕竟黑暗中总有一线光明。
21. Tom has been under a cloud in his company ever since the petty cash went missing.
自从一小笔钱丢失后，汤姆在公司里一直受到怀疑。
八、wind 风
22. The teachers in the office have been exchanging knowing glances for the last week.Something is in the wind.
上个礼拜，办公室里的老师们一直互换会意的眼色。好像要发生什么事情了。
23. We got wind of the resignation of the mayor two days before it was announced in the local paper.
市长辞职的消息在当地报纸上披露前两天，我们就听到了风声。
24. You put the wind up me, telephoning at one in the morning. I thought some-thing terrible had happened.
你在凌晨一点钟打电话可把我吓坏了，我还以为发生了什么可怕的事情。
25. After a bad start, Alan got his second wind and tried again.
虽然开头不顺利， 但是艾伦重振精神，又试了一次。
26. His brother once sold gold in the black market in the teeth of the wind.
他的哥哥一度冒着风险在黑市倒卖黄金。
九、storm 暴风雨
27. The mayor refused to resign. He said he would ride the storm, no matter how long it lasted.
那位市长拒绝辞职，他说他会渡过难关，不管需要多久。
28. There was such an outcry when the government put forward its proposals that it was forced to bow before the storm and withdraw them.
政府提出的这些倡议引起如此轩然大波，以致政府被迫向公众的抗议作出让步，收回倡议。
29. Don’t worry about the silly row. It’s just a storm in a teacup.
别为这无聊的的争吵担心，那纯粹是小题大做。
十、thunder 雷
30. Someone stole my thunder by leaking my announcement to the press.
有人抢先把我要宣布的事情向报界透露了。
31. There were at least five murders in the blood-and-thunder novel.
这部充满刺激性情节的小说中，至少有五起凶杀案。
十一、lightning 闪电
32. We have never seen anyone move so fast. He ran like a streak of lightning across the playground.
我们从没看见过跑得像他那样快的人，他闪电般地穿过运动场。
