A former student of mine got a job in northern Quebec years ago. The weather is pretty harsh there and, being quick witted, he wrote the following few paragraphs with common weather idioms. I felt it was so well written and the idioms used so naturally, I decided to post it here. And it certainly relates to my city’s recent weather. Definitions follow at the end. Thank you, Yousef Lama.
These days I’m snowed under at work since I’m very busy preparing to start up a new project at site. Since it is a new contractor that we are dealing with, my boss is blowing hot and cold over this issue – it is impossible to know what he wants. I mentioned to my boss that it is brass-monkey weather this week and that we better postpone the start-up of the project. My boss replied that weather should never bother us and that we should keep on working, come rain or shine. I know that next week it is going to get very busy, so this week is just the lull before the storm.
My boss decided to have a project kick-off celebration and invited me and the project team out for dinner at a local restaurant “The One Season Inn”. I said: “Can I take a rain-check on it?”. I wanted to postpone this since I was feeling a bit under the weather.
Currently the recession in the contracting business world is quite serious and it could be difficult to weather the storm. Under such circumstances, construction contractors see which way the wind blows before they decide on taking new business ventures.
In my case, I’m going to start saving up for a rainy day by putting aside some money for when I might need it later.
____________________
TO BE SNOWED UNDER – to be loaded down with too much work
BRASS-MONKEY WEATHER – extremely cold weather
COME RAIN OR SHINE – no matter what the conditions are
THE LULL BEFORE THE STORM – the calm period before a lot of upheaval
TO TAKE A RAIN-CHECK – to do or buy something at a later date, usually referring to an invitation or a sale
TO FEEL UNDER THE WEATHER – to not feel very well
TO WEATHER THE STORM – to manage to get through a difficult period
WHICH WAY THE WIND BLOWS – how something will probably develop depending on circumstances
TO SAVE UP FOR A RAINY DAY – to save money for any future need