Cliché: dead as a doornail

Meaning: dead like an inanimate object
Rewrite 1: dead as a paperweight
Rewrite 2: dead as a drill bit
Rewrite 3: dead as a casket
Rewrite 4: alive as an icecycle

Comment: The first two rewrites courtesy of John Shoemaker, a writer and editor in the Greater New York City Area via LinkedIn, the professional networking site, with permission.

John was one of several who responded to a question I posed on LinkedIn, “Do clichés bother you?” Most who answered were very tolerant of clichés and those who use them. Most responders were writers or editors or both. None thought using clichés were the best first option of a writer, but most thought there was a place for using clichés.

What I have attempted to show in this Web log is that as writers and editors we are all better off avoiding clichés, although it is certain there are times when we can’t avoid them or when using them can be an advantage. Better is learning to rewrite or recast the original idea, which I do in each case by example. I think my colleagues agree in principle with that. In that case, the advantage is usually yours.

Check out the searchable alphabetical list of my cliché rewrites with the archive list at the right.

Cliché: go with the flow

Meaning: be one with the flood
Rewrite 1: move with the crowd
Rewrite 2: wander the path
Rewrite 3: follow the lights
Rewrite 4: stay in the ruts

Comment: This could almost be a plea to not "rock the boat," but its roots are in the 1960s, and it was really a suggestion to go along or play along with whatever was happening at the moment rather than plan and scheme or resist the temptation to play.

Check out the searchable alphabetical list of my cliché rewrites with the archive list at the right.

Cliché: like a fish out of water

Meaning: something or someone out of their comfort zone
Rewrite 1: like a bird out of the nest
Rewrite 2: like a cow out of the pasture
Rewrite 3: like a horse out of the barn
Rewrite 4: like a dude out of beer

Comment: The last one’s pushing the allusion, but I wanted to take you beyond the animal metaphor.

Check out the searchable alphabetical list of my cliché rewrites with the archive list at the right.

Cliché: eat my hat

Meaning: as in, if the sun don’t shine tomorrow I’ll eat my hat
Rewrite 1: eat my socks
Rewrite 2: eat the mower
Rewrite 3: eat the potato peelings
Rewrite 4: wear Dad's toupé

Comment: I tried to vary the last one so it shows the same sense of confidence that it won’t happen and the absurdity of the event if it does.

Check out the searchable alphabetical list of my cliché rewrites with the archive list at the right.

Cliché: dropping like flies

Meaning: falling fast and copiously
Rewrite 1: dropping like failed pick-up lines
Rewrite 2: dropping like missed opportunities
Rewrite 3: dropping like names in Hollywood
Rewrite 4: falling like autumn leaves

Comment: You could probably have more fun with this one … falling like love at a freshman dance?

Check out the searchable alphabetical list of my cliché rewrites with the archive list at the right.

Cliché: can’t see the forest for the trees

Meaning: can’t see the whole for observing the details
Rewrite 1: can’t see the garden for the flowers
Rewrite 2: can’t see the street for the traffic
Rewrite 3: can’t see the home for the house plan
Rewrite 4: missing the curve for the plot points

Comment: I threw you a curve with the last rewrite.

Check out the searchable alphabetical list of my cliché rewrites with the archive list at the right.

Cliché: behind the times

Meaning: not aware of current trends or recent news
Rewrite 1: two fads back
Rewrite 2: last year’s fashion statement!
Rewrite 3: so last hour
Rewrite 4: yesterday’s dateline

Comment: These smack of the put down, but “behind the times” doesn’t have to be a cruel comment.

Check out the searchable alphabetical list of all my cliché rewrites available in the archive list at the right.