Talk:break the ice
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The past participle form has a (appropriately) broken accelerated-creation link, and I'm not sure how to deal with the shatter the ice entries given that it seems to be an {{alternative form of}} break the ice. But I'm afraid that creating the inflected forms for shatter the ice, while useful, will have the reader clicking back once to find the lexeme and then having to click again to find the actual definition at break the ice. So if anyone could advise me on how to proceed, or do it themselves, that'd be great. TeleComNasSprVen (talk) 10:37, 5 January 2014 (UTC)
- It's not an alternative form. That is not only true, but it also eliminates your stated difficulty for this entry.
- It's more nearly a synonym. But it actually differs in meaning because it indicates something much more dramatic than break the ice. I don't think we really want folks to go from the shattering the ice entry to the break the ice entry rather than shatter the ice. BTW, how often does shatter the ice have a figurative meaning? DCDuring TALK 11:37, 5 January 2014 (UTC)
- Alright then, I guess it's more a synonym. I've looked at Wiktionary:Forms and spellings twice and I just don't think I'm getting it today. I agree there's something more dramatic than "break the ice". I've done a cursory search on gbooks and they've also made mention of "break the ice" there, but perhaps I've just not dug hard enough. What do you propose to be the definition for "shatter the ice" then? TeleComNasSprVen (talk) 11:46, 5 January 2014 (UTC)
- I'm not 100% sure. I'm tempted by a non-gloss definition like "Used to suggest a more dramatic beginning of social interaction", but the coffee hasn't kicked in yet. DCDuring TALK 14:00, 5 January 2014 (UTC)
- The main problem I see is that I don't even know what "to introduce conversation" means. Mglovesfun (talk) 15:46, 5 January 2014 (UTC)
- You know: break the ice. How about "To break the ice in a sudden or dramatic manner." DCDuring TALK 18:44, 5 January 2014 (UTC)
- The relationship between shatter the ice and break the ice gets more mention among linguists discussing idiom and metaphor than use in speech. I'm not sure it's actually citable in use at books, based on my review of the first 100 hits, which contain one use and about half a dozen mentions of the figurative use in question, the balance being literal or other metaphorical uses ('shatter the ice in my heart'). DCDuring TALK 14:09, 6 January 2014 (UTC)
- You know: break the ice. How about "To break the ice in a sudden or dramatic manner." DCDuring TALK 18:44, 5 January 2014 (UTC)
- The main problem I see is that I don't even know what "to introduce conversation" means. Mglovesfun (talk) 15:46, 5 January 2014 (UTC)
- I'm not 100% sure. I'm tempted by a non-gloss definition like "Used to suggest a more dramatic beginning of social interaction", but the coffee hasn't kicked in yet. DCDuring TALK 14:00, 5 January 2014 (UTC)
- Alright then, I guess it's more a synonym. I've looked at Wiktionary:Forms and spellings twice and I just don't think I'm getting it today. I agree there's something more dramatic than "break the ice". I've done a cursory search on gbooks and they've also made mention of "break the ice" there, but perhaps I've just not dug hard enough. What do you propose to be the definition for "shatter the ice" then? TeleComNasSprVen (talk) 11:46, 5 January 2014 (UTC)