cliché: a basket case

Meaning: One who is of a hopeless or useless physical or mental state (definition).

Example: He was so upset by the accident, he had become a mental basket case.

Origins: World War I, describing a soldier who returned from war having lost both arms and both legs. (Source.) Offensive slang. (Source.)

Rewrites:

• N/A

Discussion: I’m going to take the unusual step of suggesting we not rewrite this cliché but because of its offensive nature we discard it. Offensive why? Because it treats the physically or mentally disabled as “hopeless” and “useless” instead of as honored and hopeful members of society. Even in its original use, officials used the term to deny that such individuals even existed. I suggest we deny the offense and not describe anyone in these or similar terms.

cliché: last hurrah

Meaning: last effort or performance (example 1, example 2)


Rewrite 1: last huzzah
Rewrite 2: final boo-ya!
Rewrite 3: K-T'd yabba dabba doo
Rewrite 4: corralled yippee-eye-oh-ki-ay
Rewrite 5: final round of "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow"


Comment: This is tied to the retirement of something or someone.


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cliché: Kodak moment, a

Meaning: a wonderful, sentimental moment (sometimes meant satirically) (example 1, example 2)


Rewrite 1: a Kodachrome frame
Rewrite 2: a soft-focus moment
Rewrite 3: get all Kodacky on me
Rewrite 4: here's a picture shy on sincerity
Rewrite 5: a photo-op moment


Comment: The danger with this idiom is that with the demise of Kodak, the "Kodak moment" now may slip into obscurity or fall into a sense of the no-longer-relevant.
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cliché: knuckle under

Meaning: consent reluctantly/give in (example)


Rewrite 1: fold to the uppercut
Rewrite 2: give in to the grimmace
Rewrite 3: cave to the nipple pinch
Rewrite 4: succumb to sarcasm
Rewrite 5: fall to a twisted plot


Comment: Faced with a set of knucles clenched under your chin, you might reluctantly bow to someone's demand. I've rewritten this idiom in that vein, then taken it in some "other" directions for fun.
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cliché: knuckle sandwich

Meaning: a punch in the mouth (example)


Rewrite 1: fist brunch
Rewrite 2: bare knuckle salad
Rewrite 3: Bronx dental cleaning
Rewrite 4: five-finger lip enlargement
Rewrite 5: party punch served with a five-finger shot glass


Comment: The original was always so evocative and image provoking; I tried to keep these in a similar frame.
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cliché: know the score

Meaning: aware of the facts or numbers/understand (example 1, example 2, example 3)


Rewrite 1: know the count
Rewrite 2: recite the numbers
Rewrite 3: deliver the outcome
Rewrite 4: handle the stats
Rewrite 5: replay the highlights


Comment: This idiom is often about sports scores, but there is also a use that is about musical score. I have kept it to sports but I'll bet you can think of rewrites for music.


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cliché: know the ropes

Meaning: knowledge or experience (example 1, example 2, example 3)


Rewrite 1: know the knots
Rewrite 2: know the sea
Rewrite 3: know the roll of the ship
Rewrite 4: know when to duck, jump, and swerve
Rewrite 5: aware of the holes, lifts, and falls
Rewrite 6: know every branch on the tree


Comment: The origins of this idiom are acknowledged to be from the sea, but there are two ways to look at it: know the rigging or know how to get around on it in various sea weather. I try to suit both.


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cliché: knock on wood

Meaning: superstitious act to avoid bad luck (example)


Rewrite 1: fist bump wood
Rewrite 2: high-five a tree
Rewrite 3: bonk an oak
Rewrite 4: knuckle a plank
Rewrite 5: back-hand some veneer
Rewrite 6: slap some ash


Comment: Not sure if in superstition these substitutions would be seen to work in the place of actually knocking on wood with your knuckles, but it would certainly work to freshen the language.


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cliché: kiss and tell

Meaning: do in private then tell in public (example 1, example 2)


Rewrite 1: kiss and tweet
Rewrite 2: bed and blab
Rewrite 3: grab and brag
Rewrite 4: see and shill
Rewrite 5: expose-say!
Rewrite 6: blab-e-ography


Comment: This often describes an elicit affair or activity so many of these are kanted that way, but I also tried to add some that tilt toward other secret knowledge made public.
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cliché: king's ransom, a

Meaning: a lot of money (example)


Rewrite 1: a royal dowry
Rewrite 2: a CEO's buyout
Rewrite 3: a whistleblower's hush fund
Rewrite 4: a lobbyist's expense account
Rewrite 5: a child's nap bribe


Comment: This idiom originated with ulterior motives, so I tried to stay with that theme in rewriting it, even if playfully so.
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Cliche: keep your nose to the grindstone

Meaning: work, fool! (example)


Rewrite 1: Keep your hand to the plow handle
Rewrite 2: keep your eye on the page
Rewrite 3: keep your back to the barricade
Rewrite 4: keep your mind too busy to wander
Rewrite 5: keep your knees planted in the garden


Comment: Some of this about focus,some of this is about commitment. I tried to capture both in this rewrite.


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Cliche: keep your powder dry

Meaning: reserve your resources (example)


Rewrite 1: keep your wick dry
Rewrite 2: keep your shot handy
Rewrite 3: keep the pantry stocked
Rewrite 4: keep the pump primed
Rewrite 5: keep the inkwell filled
Rewrite 6: keep the Reserves nearby


Comments: I tried to vary from close to the metaphor to wide of the metaphor but close to the idea. See how you do in rewriting this classic.


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Cliche: keep your hair on

Meaning: be calm, don't over-react (example)


Rewrite 1: keep your wig on
Rewrite 2: keep your curls on
Rewrite 3: keep your fringe covered
Rewrite 4: keep your calm on
Rewrite 5: keep your cool on
Rewrite 6: don't lose your wig to your worries




Comment: Although this rewrite focuses more on hair and hair substitutes, there are surely more ways to rewrite this cliche. How else might you you say it conveying the same sense?


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Cliche: keep your eyes open (peeled)

Meaning: be alert or watchful (example)


Rewrite 1: keep your sense of sight on the sense of action
Rewrite 2: be wide-eyed and super-detailed
Rewrite 3: watch with every eye you have
Rewrite 4: make sure the "eyes" have it
Rewrite 5: keep your senses on high alert




Comment: Making a direct translation into other idioms or metaphors for this cliche was difficult so I had to stretch it a little, but I think I accomplished my goal. Good luck on your attempts.


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An eye on poetry
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Cliche: Keep your chin up!

Meaning: remain upbeat (example)


Rewrite 1: Chin into the wind!
Rewrite 2: Chin above the water!
Rewrite 3: Make your chin your prow through troubled waters.
Rewrite 4: Eyes open, nose parallel to the ground, and chin leading forward!
Rewrite 5: Lead with the chin for the win!

Comment: Although I usually try to vary the subjects of my metaphors, in this case I thought I'd maintain the chin as the single focus and vary the idioms around it. How else might you rewrite this cliche?

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Growing idiomatically
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Cliché: jack of all trades and a master of none, a

Meaning: average talent with no special skills


Rewrite 1: a mean hauler of sails who can't tie off a knot
Rewrite 2: he can swing a mean hammer but can't hit a nail
Rewrite 3: all tool belt and no tools
Rewrite 4: good at coloring inside the box but can't stay in the lines
Rewrite 5: Mr. Handy, Mr. Thumbs


Comment: A "jack" was an average seaman while a "master" was a highly skilled craftsman on a ship, so this idiom originates with the early sea service. A jack might be good at doing general duties on ship, but he wouldn't be rated a master until he could do extraordinary work. I started by trying to rewrite these to give some sense of those skills or lack of said, then generalized from there.


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Sounding like a sea dog
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Cliché: it's a game of inches

Meaning: a sport or effort with minimal gains or losses


Rewrite 1: it's a game of small advances
Rewrite 2: it's a game of not-quite-theres
Rewrite 3: it's a contest of minor gains
Rewrite 4: it's a match of major disappointments
Rewrite 5: it's a sport of near misses


More possible rewrites:


Rewrite 6: a game of barely movable objects
Rewrite 7: a game of well planted heels
Rewrite 8: a game of well defended options
Rewrite 9: a game of steel-staked positions
Rewrite 10: a game of hard fought lines
Rewrite 11: a contest of won'ts
Rewrite 12: a match between wills


Comment: This was a tough rewrite for me, trying to find new ways to recast the "inches" in a meaningful way. In the end, I decided to redefine the end-product and not the measurement. In the send batch of rewrites, I wrote about less sports-related efforts. Where would you have taken this?


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Speaking of sports
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Cliché: in the bag

Meaning: achieved; achievement certain (example)


Rewrite 1: bagged it, dude!
Rewrite 2: tagged, dragged, and bagged
Rewrite 3: locked in
Rewrite 4: glued and screwed
Rewrite 5: water tight


Comment: I went from hunting metaphors to security and craftsmanship metaphors. Let's see what you can do with it.


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Cliché: it's a lemon

Meaning: useless; doesn't work (example)


Rewrite 1: squeeze it, you might get lemonade
Rewrite 2: two more and you can make a meringue pie
Rewrite 3: it has a hint of citrus
Rewrite 4: this thing's so sour it's turning lemon yellow
Rewrite 5: if this isn't a lemon, it's the most yellow lime I've ever seen


Comment: Rather than paralleling the "it's a ..." construction, I tried to work with ways of expressing a lemony quality to say the same thing. 




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Speaking of Lemony Things
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Cliché: it takes two to tango

Meaning: conflict or other relations requires two (example 1, example 2)


Rewrite 1: it takes two to duet
Rewrite 2: it takes two to tangle
Rewrite 3: it takes two to shake hands
Rewrite 4: it takes two to share
Rewrite 5: it takes two sides to go to war


Comment: Some of my examples oversimplify relationships for the sake of providing an example, but you can easily modify the example or the statement to suit the situation.


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Idioms for younger writers
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