Cliché: make ends meet

Meaning: to live within one's means.


Rewrite 1: make dollar bills cover the paper bills
Rewrite 2: hope coins cover charges
Rewrite 3: ensure pluses equal minuses
Rewrite 4: keep the bottom line above the bottom line
Rewrite 5: make the sums cover the differences

Comments: The origins of this idiom are a little obscure. Are they from bookkeeping or tailoring? How you recast such a cliché may be affected by its origins, although in this instance I've aimed more at its literal meaning.

Check out the searchable alphabetical list of my cliché rewrites with my archived list.

Cliché: look what the cat dragged in

Meaning: Surprised (sometimes feigned) reaction to a mess or uncomfortable situation either brought in or caused by someone. (example)


Rewrite 1: Look what the dog dumped on our doorstep
Rewrite 2: Look what Poppa brought home
Rewrite 3: Look what the birds dropped on the window
Rewrite 4: Look what scurried under the door


Comment: Often considered simply an idiom instead of a cliché, but it's still overused and could be rewritten.


Check out the searchable alphabetical list of my cliché rewrites with my archived list.

Cliché: knock your socks off

Meaning: metaphorically, powerful enough to explosively remove clothing
Rewrite 1: knock your boxers off
Rewrite 2: knock your bra off
Rewrite 3: blow the shutters off
Rewrite 4: spin the tires off

Comment: Extend the metaphor to the house or other things.

Check out the searchable alphabetical list of my cliché rewrites with my archived list.

Find books on clichés through my online book store affiliated with Amazon.com. They can help you identify clichés and what they mean.

Cliché: beats picking cotton

Meaning: this is better than menial work
Rewrite 1: It beats pitting olives
Rewrite 2: It beats cleaning sewers
Rewrite 3: It beats stuffing prunes
Rewrite 4: It’s better than dusting road mines

Comment: The use has gotten away from the sense of hot, painful work picking cotton could be to the more mundane, unenviable effort. I’ve extended it even further.

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

Find books on clichés through my online book store affiliated with Amazon.com. They can help you identify clichés and what they mean.

Cliché: the pot calling the kettle black

Meaning: in short, accusations of hypocrisy
Rewrite 1: the fire engine calling the barn red
Rewrite 2: the leopard calling the Dalmatian spotted
Rewrite 3: the emerald calling the coke bottle jaded
Rewrite 4: the yew calling the holly unruly
Rewrite 5: the spiked do calling the beard unkempt

Comment: It's easy enough to pick up the same sense by simply changing colors, but there are many other sense in which this cliche can work and in which you can extend the metaphor for seeing something in another person that you fail to see in yourself.

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

Find books on clichés through my online book store affiliated with Amazon.com. They can help you identify clichés and what they mean.

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.

Cliché: dead as a doornail

Meaning: dead like an inanimate object
Rewrite 1: dead as a paperweight
Rewrite 2: dead as a drill bit
Rewrite 3: dead as a casket
Rewrite 4: alive as an icecycle

Comment: The first two rewrites courtesy of John Shoemaker, a writer and editor in the Greater New York City Area via LinkedIn, the professional networking site, with permission.

John was one of several who responded to a question I posed on LinkedIn, “Do clichés bother you?” Most who answered were very tolerant of clichés and those who use them. Most responders were writers or editors or both. None thought using clichés were the best first option of a writer, but most thought there was a place for using clichés.

What I have attempted to show in this Web log is that as writers and editors we are all better off avoiding clichés, although it is certain there are times when we can’t avoid them or when using them can be an advantage. Better is learning to rewrite or recast the original idea, which I do in each case by example. I think my colleagues agree in principle with that. In that case, the advantage is usually yours.

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

Cliché: go with the flow

Meaning: be one with the flood
Rewrite 1: move with the crowd
Rewrite 2: wander the path
Rewrite 3: follow the lights
Rewrite 4: stay in the ruts

Comment: This could almost be a plea to not "rock the boat," but its roots are in the 1960s, and it was really a suggestion to go along or play along with whatever was happening at the moment rather than plan and scheme or resist the temptation to play.

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

Cliché: like a fish out of water

Meaning: something or someone out of their comfort zone
Rewrite 1: like a bird out of the nest
Rewrite 2: like a cow out of the pasture
Rewrite 3: like a horse out of the barn
Rewrite 4: like a dude out of beer

Comment: The last one’s pushing the allusion, but I wanted to take you beyond the animal metaphor.

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

Cliché: eat my hat

Meaning: as in, if the sun don’t shine tomorrow I’ll eat my hat
Rewrite 1: eat my socks
Rewrite 2: eat the mower
Rewrite 3: eat the potato peelings
Rewrite 4: wear Dad's toupé

Comment: I tried to vary the last one so it shows the same sense of confidence that it won’t happen and the absurdity of the event if it does.

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

Cliché: dropping like flies

Meaning: falling fast and copiously
Rewrite 1: dropping like failed pick-up lines
Rewrite 2: dropping like missed opportunities
Rewrite 3: dropping like names in Hollywood
Rewrite 4: falling like autumn leaves

Comment: You could probably have more fun with this one … falling like love at a freshman dance?

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

Cliché: can’t see the forest for the trees

Meaning: can’t see the whole for observing the details
Rewrite 1: can’t see the garden for the flowers
Rewrite 2: can’t see the street for the traffic
Rewrite 3: can’t see the home for the house plan
Rewrite 4: missing the curve for the plot points

Comment: I threw you a curve with the last rewrite.

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

Cliché: behind the times

Meaning: not aware of current trends or recent news
Rewrite 1: two fads back
Rewrite 2: last year’s fashion statement!
Rewrite 3: so last hour
Rewrite 4: yesterday’s dateline

Comment: These smack of the put down, but “behind the times” doesn’t have to be a cruel comment.

Check out the searchable alphabetical list of all my cliché rewrites available in the archive list at the right.

Cliché: the icing on the cake

Meaning: something added to something good to make it even better
Rewrite 1: the sprinkles on the sundae
Rewrite 2: the chocolate on the strawberries
Rewrite 3: the bonus with the paid holiday
Rewrite 4: the personalized autograph in the first edition classic

Comment: It’s hard to keep it simple the more extravagant you go.

Check out the searchable alphabetical list of all my cliché rewrites available in the archive list at the right.

Cliché: as easy as falling off a log

Meaning: little to no effort required
Rewrite 1: as easy as tripping on a crack
Rewrite 2: as simple as crossing a "t" or dotting an "i"
Rewrite 3: as smooth as pushing a ball down a hill
Rewrite 4: as natural as running with the wind

Comment: As usual I tried to vary both the example and the meaning of the root word, in this case “easy.” Additional root words I could have used include graceful, painless, and effortless, although they are more cumbersome.

Check out the searchable alphabetical list of all my cliché rewrites available in the archive list at the right.

Back After a Long, Unplanned Absence

What a road I have traveled since I last posted! I apologize to anyone who has visited and seen how long it's been since I last made an entry.

I suffered a series of health set-backs, the last of which -- prostate cancer surgery -- I am still recovering from. As a result, I wasn't able to give any time to rewriting cliches. I am trying to begin again.

In addition, just before the health set-backs, I lost most of my research as a result of the faulty diskettes on which I had stored my data, because I had to totally erase my hard drive and reload all my software and data. Only afterward did I discover that my data was lost! So I have had to begin gathering material again. I have also since started storing data on X-drive as my external drive. Fool me once...but only once!

So, if you have been a fan of the site and wondered where I have been... or if you have stumbled onto the site and would like more of what I have produced, let me assure you I am working on it again.

I am a freelance writer and editor and rely on that freelance work for a living, so I am doing this blog as I have time and energy. Recovering from prostate surgery at age 57 takes a long, long time. But I want to get this site back in gear, even if it isn't on a daily basis as it once was.

Thank you for your patience.
Alan

Cliché: drive me to drink

(entered for 05.03.06)

Meaning: make me take extreme or dangerous measures
Rewrite 1: force me to do drugs
Rewrite 2: drive me to mainline vitamins
Rewrite 3: make me pinch snuff
Rewrite 4: push me to scarf Pop-Tarts and Tic-Tacs

Comment: The last one is for the really little kids. They’ll appreciate the effort.

More reading about clichés
What I found when I googled “clichés”:
• April 05, 2006: “Better investing through clichés.”

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.

Cliché: get in on the ground floor

(entered for 5.02.06)

Meaning: get in at the very beginning or while the getting in is still good
Rewrite 1: get on while the elevator’s still taking passengers
Rewrite 2: take the stairs at the first floor
Rewrite 3: use the door while the handle still works
Rewrite 4: plant your garden before the ground dries up

Comment: Somehow these all seem silly, but then so does the concept of getting into something “on the ground floor” these days.

More reading about clichés
What I found when I googled “clichés”:
• ClicheSite.com: “The largest collection of clichés, phrases, and sayings with definitions and explanations.

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.

Cliché: don’t rain on my parade

(entered for 05.01.06)

Meaning: don’t spoil my celebration
Rewrite 1: don’t sprinkler my yard party
Rewrite 2: don’t sneeze on my cake
Rewrite 3: don’t heckle my thank you speech
Rewrite 4: don’t close the gate as my guests arrive

Comment: I don’t suppose “sprinkler” is a verb, but there also isn’t a very easy way to say, “Don’t turn on the oscillating sprinkler, drag out the hose, and stretch it among the lawn chairs while we party in the yard.”

More reading about clichés
What I found when I googled “clichés”:
• Ephems of BLB: “Political discourse in this country has surely never been more infested with clichés.”

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.

Cliché: you do the math

(entered for 04.30.06)

Meaning: you figure it out or do the work. Relatively new.
Rewrite 1: you do the algebra
Rewrite 2: you do the logic
Rewrite 3: you work the gears
Rewrite 4: you add the ones and tens

Comment: I hate this one so much, I hesitate to suggest alternatives – but here goes anyway.

More reading about clichés
What I found when I googled “clichés”:
• Herbert’s Peak Clichés or New Energy Storm: Nuclear energy lecture, Purdue University (see attachment).

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.