Friday, March 10, 2006

Cliché: test the waters

Meaning: try it. Use examples.
Rewrite 1: see if it holds up in a
gale
Rewrite 2: see if it holds water
Rewrite 3: see if it floats
Rewrite 4: see if it flies

Comment: See if it can drive me crazy trying to find another way to say it. I had a hard time rewriting this one. Nothing seems to work as well.

More reading about clichés
What I found when I
googled “clichés”:
Democratic Underground: “I fear that some cliches may be right… it looks like Command and Conquer: Generals is the video game equivalent of the near future that we will see.” [edited for brevity]

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.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Throw it against the wall, and see if it sticks." (a reference to pasta)

Booksville Bookclub said...

Hi Paul. Are you recommending this as another rewrite for "test the waters" or as another cliche to rewrite? Although it could apply as a rewrite to "test the waters," it is itself a cliche. Do you have any other suggestions?