Cliché: run circles around

(also, run rings around)

Meaning: easily and quickly surpass you. Origins.
Rewrite 1: do doughnuts around
Rewrite 2: do pretzels around
Rewrite 3: run around you like you’re standing still
Rewrite 4: make like a hare while you make like a snail²

Comment: Rewrites 1 and 2 are more like 3-D versions of the original, while rewrites 3 and 4 try to extend the metaphor to a brag. In the case of the pretzel, it’s a more complicated or intricate pattern to weave around someone or something than simply a circle or ring. In the case of the hare and the snail, I had originally thought to use the hare versus the turtle metaphor, then decided to change the turtle to a snail to avoid a reference to the lesson learned when the slower turtle actually beat the much faster hare.

More reading about clichés
What I found when I googled “clichés”:
• Why Clichés are so annoying: CorrenteWire (political commentary).

Note: By providing links to other websites I am only showing you what is out there about clichés – I am not endorsing any content or opinion expressed there.

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