Storm

The figurative use of this word as in 'cooking up a storm', or as Jerry Lee Lewis once sang, 'loving up a storm', is American from as long ago as the 19th century. Besides its weather connotation, a storm can be any form of commotion, unrest or outburst and has enjoyed such figurative meanings since the early 1500s. Shakespeare coined the expression ‘storm brewing’ in The Tempest, Act II, Scene II, “and another storm brewing, I can it sing i’ the wind.” Before Shakespeare first brewed up a storm, everyone else was brewing beer, tea, and coffee. Storm as in a storm of abuse is from the late 1500s, and storm, as in to take by storm i.e. a violent attack on a fortified place, dates from the mid-1600s. The figurative usage ‘taking the world by storm’ dates from the late 19th century. See also barnstorming.