Cliché: get into hot water

Meaning: get into trouble (example)


Rewrite: gulp hot coffee
Rewrite: dive into boiling water
Rewrite: skinny dip in a scalding pool
Rewrite: ride some white water
Rewrite: cross a river at a deep spot


Comment: There are lots of ways to use water as a metaphor for getting into trouble and I've attempted to use some of them here.


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How they might say it at sea

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Cliché: doesn't have both oars in the water

Meaning: Not with it (example)


Rewrite 1: rowing short an oar
Rewrite 2: steering with a rudder at both ends
Rewrite 3: one boat short an oar
Rewrite 4: in a canoe with no paddles
Rewrite 5: driving a car with three flats


Comments: This is less about boats and oars than it is about being unbalanced, but I couldn't resist some of these stranger variations on the original theme.


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Cliché: in hot water

Meaning: in a lot of trouble
Rewrite 1: in boiling water
Rewrite 2: in raging water
Rewrite 3: in hot soup
Rewrite 4: in tepid waters

Comment: The first rewrite may be an extreme case of being in hot water, so you may want to bring the heat down a notch or wait until things get way out of hand before describing it.

Check out the searchable alphabetical list of my cliché rewrites with the archive list at the right.