锦上添花固然是一件美事，常常让人喜出望外，是生活不可多得的一种精神追求。精益求精是一种生活态度，虽然有的时候显得有点强迫症，但是美好的事物或高科技都是基于这种态度的。呼吁社会在追求锦上添花美事的同时，也多点雪中送炭。 在英语中表达”锦上添花或精益求精“，可以用 icing on the cake 或 frosting on the cake，比喻使好的东西或情况更好，其中的 ice 常用作名词，译为”冰，冰块“时，是不可数名词，例如：There was ice on the windows.窗户上有冰花。The ice on the roads made driving conditions treacherous.路上的冰对驾车构成了隐患。ice 也可作动词，译为”在（糕饼上）加糖霜“，例如：I've iced and decorated the cake.我在蛋糕上挂了糖衣，还做了花样装饰。
因此习语 icing/frosting on the cake 的寓意就显得浅显易懂，通常不要理解为“蛋糕上的雪霜”，要根据具体的上下文，例如： The third goal was the icing on the cake.第三粒进球是锦上添花。Everyone expected him to do well in the exams. Getting first rank was the icing on the cake.每个人都期望他在考试中取得好成绩。获得第一名是锦上添花。He was happy to have his first book published. All those congratulatory messages and fan-mail that came in were the icing on the cake.他很高兴他的第一本书出版了。所有这些贺信和粉丝来信都是锦上添花。The sportsman was already on a high after having won at the competition, the frosting on the cake was when the government announced a huge cash reward for is achievement.这位运动员在比赛中获胜后已经兴高采烈了，而锦上添花是政府宣布对他取得的成就给予巨额现金奖励的时候。He was already happy with his pay hike, the icing on the cake came when he received a large bonus.他对加薪已经很满意了，当他得到一大笔奖金时，更是锦上添花。生活不能缺少锦上添花的美事，但是天上不会掉馅饼，再美好的事物也是需要靠自己努力争取的；很多时候事物的美好程度或事情的完美程度往往取决于与之相匹配的努力的程度。
