cliché: baptism by fire

(also, baptism of fire)

Meaning: an ordeal, especially of martyrdom; soldier’s first battle experiences (definition).

Example: On his first day, the customer service rep faced a first rate consumer rage call, an epic baptism of fire.

Origins: First used in French to reference a soldier’s experience in battle, 1822. Also Biblical references. (Source.)

Rewrites:

• baptism by conflagration
• blessing by bayonet
• passion by ambush
• ecstasy by battle
• immersion by Armageddon
• purification by scrabble

Discussion: There are a couple of different ways to go with this idiom. Be inventive.

Cliché: take the gloves off

Meaning: play or act more aggressively, less guardedly (example)


Rewrite 1: take the padding off
Rewrite 2: shed the wuss pads
Rewrite 3: drop the kiddie protectors
Rewrite 4: play to lose some skin
Rewrite 5: resort to roughy rules


Comment: I've written to the idea of dropping artificial protectants, using more sarcastic language, but it doesn't have to be that way. You could just as easily work it toward more natural conditions or more agile play. Ask yourself what the gloves represent and what taking them off means in your circumstance.


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