Les avantages et inconvénients d’avoir un chien

What does “briser la glace” mean in French?

In French, briser la glace means “to break the ice.” You use it when you start talking to someone and the first awkward silence goes away. The picture is the same as in English: hard ice that you break so people can feel comfortable together. This idiom works just like the English one, so it is easy to remember and easy to use right away.

The speaker is listing the good sides of having a dog. He introduces the phrase as a useful expression: “Avoir un chien, ça aide beaucoup à briser la glace” — “Having a dog helps a lot to break the ice.” When you walk a dog, strangers come up and ask about it, so the first words come easily. Word by word: briser means “to break,” and la glace means “the ice” (it also means “ice cream” or “mirror” — context tells you which). You can also say rompre la glace; both are correct and common in France and Québec. More examples: “Pour briser la glace, il a raconté une blague” (To break the ice, he told a joke). “Cette question a brisé la glace entre nous” (That question broke the ice between us).