Friday, January 11, 2013

cliché: Achilles’ heel

Meaning: vulnerability (definition and example).


Example: His lack of attention to detail was his Achilles’ heel.

Origins: Greek mythology. First cited in literature by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, 1810. (Source.)

Rewrites:
  • Achilles’ weak spot
  • Thor's mind
  • Samson’s locks
  • Kal-El’s kryptonite
  • Spiderman’s Mary Jane
  • Death Star’s thermal exhaust port


Discussion: Some of these you have to know the story to get the vulnerability and so they may not work as instantaneously as the original. Others may break through right away, depending on your audience.

No comments: