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.

Cliché: the icing on the cake

Meaning: something added to something good to make it even better
Rewrite 1: the sprinkles on the sundae
Rewrite 2: the chocolate on the strawberries
Rewrite 3: the bonus with the paid holiday
Rewrite 4: the personalized autograph in the first edition classic

Comment: It’s hard to keep it simple the more extravagant you go.

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

Cliché: as easy as falling off a log

Meaning: little to no effort required
Rewrite 1: as easy as tripping on a crack
Rewrite 2: as simple as crossing a "t" or dotting an "i"
Rewrite 3: as smooth as pushing a ball down a hill
Rewrite 4: as natural as running with the wind

Comment: As usual I tried to vary both the example and the meaning of the root word, in this case “easy.” Additional root words I could have used include graceful, painless, and effortless, although they are more cumbersome.

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

Back After a Long, Unplanned Absence

What a road I have traveled since I last posted! I apologize to anyone who has visited and seen how long it's been since I last made an entry.

I suffered a series of health set-backs, the last of which -- prostate cancer surgery -- I am still recovering from. As a result, I wasn't able to give any time to rewriting cliches. I am trying to begin again.

In addition, just before the health set-backs, I lost most of my research as a result of the faulty diskettes on which I had stored my data, because I had to totally erase my hard drive and reload all my software and data. Only afterward did I discover that my data was lost! So I have had to begin gathering material again. I have also since started storing data on X-drive as my external drive. Fool me once...but only once!

So, if you have been a fan of the site and wondered where I have been... or if you have stumbled onto the site and would like more of what I have produced, let me assure you I am working on it again.

I am a freelance writer and editor and rely on that freelance work for a living, so I am doing this blog as I have time and energy. Recovering from prostate surgery at age 57 takes a long, long time. But I want to get this site back in gear, even if it isn't on a daily basis as it once was.

Thank you for your patience.
Alan