Meaning: reasons you’re so quiet or can’t speak
Rewrite 1: someone push your “mute” button?
Rewrite 2: somebody put you "on hold”?
Rewrite 3: you can’t say anything nice about somebody? Or, your mom caught you saying something bad about someone?
Rewrite 4: you’re quieter than a mime2a with laryngitis.
Comment: Rewrite 3 is stretching it, but if you don’t have to explain that his or her mother must have said, “if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all” you’re doing well.
More reading about clichés
What I found when I googled “clichés”:
• The Modern Rules of Advertising: "Men are tired of their portrayal in advertising, according to a new book by Michael Buerk. But images of men behaving stupidly is not the only cliché which irritates writer John Camm." Mostly British but interesting anyway.
Monday, October 31, 2005
Sunday, October 30, 2005
Cliché: eats like a horse
Meaning: voracious appetite
Rewrite 1: eats like a teenager
Rewrite 2: eats like a starved dog
Rewrite 3: has the appetite of a wolf
Rewrite 4: can consume a leg of lamb like a piranha on a cow
Comment 1: Lots of opportunity here to have fun with the image of someone or something that can’t quite get enough to eat fast enough.
Comment 2: See what the Parents’ Common Sense Encyclopedia has to say about appetites and what is normal or abnormal.
More reading about clichés
What I found when I googled “clichés”:
• Design Clichés: “…about those symbols we use … or rather, those [that] other people use … to indicate common themes, concepts or ideas. Those symbols which have been used so often that they’ve become clichés.”
Rewrite 1: eats like a teenager
Rewrite 2: eats like a starved dog
Rewrite 3: has the appetite of a wolf
Rewrite 4: can consume a leg of lamb like a piranha on a cow
Comment 1: Lots of opportunity here to have fun with the image of someone or something that can’t quite get enough to eat fast enough.
Comment 2: See what the Parents’ Common Sense Encyclopedia has to say about appetites and what is normal or abnormal.
More reading about clichés
What I found when I googled “clichés”:
• Design Clichés: “…about those symbols we use … or rather, those [that] other people use … to indicate common themes, concepts or ideas. Those symbols which have been used so often that they’ve become clichés.”
Saturday, October 29, 2005
Cliché: I'd lose my head if it weren't attached
Meaning: my memory is so bad… or I’m so forgetful…
Rewrite 1: I’d lose my tongue if it weren’t attached
Rewrite 2: I’d lose track of my keys if they weren’t in my hands
Rewrite 3: I’d leave my coat behind if I weren’t wearing it
Rewrite 4: I’d stop chewing if it didn’t mean food falling from my mouth
Comment 1: This cliché is really about bad memory, so I have skewed the rewrites toward that.
Comment 2: Before you jump all over me for using “weren’t” instead of “wasn’t”, consider that it is proper English to use “weren’t” in the subjunctive or hypothetical case.
More reading about clichés
What I found when I googled “clichés”:
• The Grand List of Console Role Playing Game Clichés: self-explanatory. If you’re into RPGs (role-playing games), you’ll know what this is about.
Rewrite 1: I’d lose my tongue if it weren’t attached
Rewrite 2: I’d lose track of my keys if they weren’t in my hands
Rewrite 3: I’d leave my coat behind if I weren’t wearing it
Rewrite 4: I’d stop chewing if it didn’t mean food falling from my mouth
Comment 1: This cliché is really about bad memory, so I have skewed the rewrites toward that.
Comment 2: Before you jump all over me for using “weren’t” instead of “wasn’t”, consider that it is proper English to use “weren’t” in the subjunctive or hypothetical case.
More reading about clichés
What I found when I googled “clichés”:
• The Grand List of Console Role Playing Game Clichés: self-explanatory. If you’re into RPGs (role-playing games), you’ll know what this is about.
Friday, October 28, 2005
Cliché: out of the woods
Meaning: out of danger or in the clear
Rewrite 1: out of the thicket
Rewrite 2: out of the weed patchn5
Rewrite 3: clear of the mines
Rewrite 4: in the middle of an angry crowd
Comment: Decide first whether you want to express being out of some kind of danger or in the clear. Although “out of the woods” can express either, other metaphors can’t.
More reading about clichés
What I found when I googled “clichés”:
• Film Sound Clichés: "Film sound stereotypes and common logic flaws."
Rewrite 1: out of the thicket
Rewrite 2: out of the weed patchn5
Rewrite 3: clear of the mines
Rewrite 4: in the middle of an angry crowd
Comment: Decide first whether you want to express being out of some kind of danger or in the clear. Although “out of the woods” can express either, other metaphors can’t.
More reading about clichés
What I found when I googled “clichés”:
• Film Sound Clichés: "Film sound stereotypes and common logic flaws."
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Cliché: a quick buck
Meaning: easy money or easy earnings (could also be barter items)
Rewrite 1: a quick dime (or other monetary unit)
Rewrite 2: a meal in a minute
Rewrite 3: get some no-sweat sweets
Rewrite 4: fast bucks
Comment: There are a lot of possibilities here. Children might think in terms of candy or other treats, movies, toys, etc. Adults might think in terms of time off, promotions, hobby time, etc.
Rewrite 1: a quick dime (or other monetary unit)
Rewrite 2: a meal in a minute
Rewrite 3: get some no-sweat sweets
Rewrite 4: fast bucks
Comment: There are a lot of possibilities here. Children might think in terms of candy or other treats, movies, toys, etc. Adults might think in terms of time off, promotions, hobby time, etc.
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Cliché: wipe the slate clean
Meaning: start over
Rewrite 1: start over with a sheet of clean paper
Rewrite 2: begin with a fresh coat of paint
Rewrite 3: rake away the garbage and start over
Rewrite 4: forget the mess and try again
Comment: Let's start with a new set of words and get on with it. There are lots of ways to say it.
More reading about clichés
What I found when I googled “clichés”:
• Tokyo on one Cliché a Day, by Seth Stevenson, a regular contributor to Slate.com, who spent two months in Tokyo on a media fellowship.
Rewrite 1: start over with a sheet of clean paper
Rewrite 2: begin with a fresh coat of paint
Rewrite 3: rake away the garbage and start over
Rewrite 4: forget the mess and try again
Comment: Let's start with a new set of words and get on with it. There are lots of ways to say it.
More reading about clichés
What I found when I googled “clichés”:
• Tokyo on one Cliché a Day, by Seth Stevenson, a regular contributor to Slate.com, who spent two months in Tokyo on a media fellowship.
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Cliché: back in the saddle
Meaning: in charge or active again
Rewrite 1: back to leading the horse to the trough
Rewrite 2: pushing the buttonsn2 again
Rewrite 3: carrying the keys again
Rewrite 4: back to counting beans*
*Reference: See "bean counters"
Comment: The quickest rewrites reminded me of other similar clichés (like “walking the beat again”), so I had to be careful not to fall into the trap of accepting the first things that came to mind. I had to work at it, but I think these all work.
More reading about clichés
What I found when I googled “clichés”:
• Avoid this list of cliché leads in news stories via ACES/cliché leads at copydesk.org.
Rewrite 1: back to leading the horse to the trough
Rewrite 2: pushing the buttonsn2 again
Rewrite 3: carrying the keys again
Rewrite 4: back to counting beans*
*Reference: See "bean counters"
Comment: The quickest rewrites reminded me of other similar clichés (like “walking the beat again”), so I had to be careful not to fall into the trap of accepting the first things that came to mind. I had to work at it, but I think these all work.
More reading about clichés
What I found when I googled “clichés”:
• Avoid this list of cliché leads in news stories via ACES/cliché leads at copydesk.org.
Monday, October 24, 2005
Cliché: fell through the cracks
Meaning: mysteriously lost
Rewrite 1: fell into a sinkhole
Rewrite 2: slipped under the filing cabinet
Rewrite 3: warpediv2* into another dimension
Rewrite 4: inadvertently picked up by the elf doing my filing
*Here I mean “warped” in the sense as used in science fiction, in which spaceships can move into other dimensions by manipulating the fabric of space.
Comment: Although this cliché usually means that something – a piece of paper, a project file, or a project itself – has gone unnoticed or has accidentally left a place where you would see it to deal with it, it can also be a sarcastic response that says it was accidentally lost but means was actually intentionally set aside. This is a rarer use.
More reading about clichés
What I found when I googled “clichés”:
• Clichés in photography on, on Eschew Cliché by Mike Johnston, in The Luminous Landscape, a video journal by Michael Reichmann. Eschew Cliché is available on photo.net.
Rewrite 1: fell into a sinkhole
Rewrite 2: slipped under the filing cabinet
Rewrite 3: warpediv2* into another dimension
Rewrite 4: inadvertently picked up by the elf doing my filing
*Here I mean “warped” in the sense as used in science fiction, in which spaceships can move into other dimensions by manipulating the fabric of space.
Comment: Although this cliché usually means that something – a piece of paper, a project file, or a project itself – has gone unnoticed or has accidentally left a place where you would see it to deal with it, it can also be a sarcastic response that says it was accidentally lost but means was actually intentionally set aside. This is a rarer use.
More reading about clichés
What I found when I googled “clichés”:
• Clichés in photography on, on Eschew Cliché by Mike Johnston, in The Luminous Landscape, a video journal by Michael Reichmann. Eschew Cliché is available on photo.net.
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Cliché: jump down your throat
Meaning: seriously get on your case
Rewrite 1: jump on your back
Rewrite 2: swing at your head like a piñata
Rewrite 3: beat on you like a hammer on an anvil
Rewrite 4: throw your head like a bowling ball
Comment: This one was harder to rewrite than I thought it would be. There are probably lots of parts of the body to "jump on" when you want to show your anger, but most such metaphors sound as much like physical abuse as examples of how far you’re willing to go to show someone you’re serious about something.
More reading about clichés
What I found when I googled “clichés”:
• Cliché Challenge by The Progressive Review tracks the number of references on Google.com for various clichés.
Rewrite 1: jump on your back
Rewrite 2: swing at your head like a piñata
Rewrite 3: beat on you like a hammer on an anvil
Rewrite 4: throw your head like a bowling ball
Comment: This one was harder to rewrite than I thought it would be. There are probably lots of parts of the body to "jump on" when you want to show your anger, but most such metaphors sound as much like physical abuse as examples of how far you’re willing to go to show someone you’re serious about something.
More reading about clichés
What I found when I googled “clichés”:
• Cliché Challenge by The Progressive Review tracks the number of references on Google.com for various clichés.
Saturday, October 22, 2005
Cliché: see the glass as half empty
Meaning: having a negative view of life
Rewrite 1: see a storm cloud without a silver lining
Rewrite 2: see a rain shower as a hurricane
Rewrite 3: view a promotion as piling on* more work
Rewrite 4: think of winning the lottery as increasing your tax burden
Comment: This cliché provides lots of opportunities to be creative. There are lots of situations you can see from either a negative or a positive point of view. You can also flip the concept by seeing the glass as half full and have some fun with that as a rewrite: See a hurricane as a chance to blow autumn leaves out of your yard or a flat tire as an opportunity to flex some muscles.
Rewrite 1: see a storm cloud without a silver lining
Rewrite 2: see a rain shower as a hurricane
Rewrite 3: view a promotion as piling on* more work
Rewrite 4: think of winning the lottery as increasing your tax burden
Comment: This cliché provides lots of opportunities to be creative. There are lots of situations you can see from either a negative or a positive point of view. You can also flip the concept by seeing the glass as half full and have some fun with that as a rewrite: See a hurricane as a chance to blow autumn leaves out of your yard or a flat tire as an opportunity to flex some muscles.
*Piling on: consider this also in the context of the sports idiom in football in which multiple (way more than necessary) defensive players jump on the player in possession of the ball.
More reading about clichés
What I found when I googled “clichés”
• Consider The Political Cliché Site for words on candidates, how to run a campaign, and more. Part of The Sports Cliché site.
Friday, October 21, 2005
Cliché: zip your lip
Meaning: close your mouth or be quiet
Rewrite 1: snapiv9 your flapn2
Rewrite 2: close your pie hole
Rewrite 3: lock it shut
Rewrite 4: plug your escape hatch
Comment: All of these rewrites would work if you put them in the right context, but they could also be taken as a double entendre if you aren’t careful.
More reading about clichés
What I found when I googled “clichés”
• Clichés to say in times of trouble is what The Book of Clichés is all about.
Rewrite 1: snapiv9 your flapn2
Rewrite 2: close your pie hole
Rewrite 3: lock it shut
Rewrite 4: plug your escape hatch
Comment: All of these rewrites would work if you put them in the right context, but they could also be taken as a double entendre if you aren’t careful.
More reading about clichés
What I found when I googled “clichés”
• Clichés to say in times of trouble is what The Book of Clichés is all about.
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Cliché: can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear
Meaning: can’t make something lovely out of something ugly
Rewrite 1: can’t make a silk purse out of an elephant’s ear
Rewrite 2: can’t make a T-bone out of stew meat
Rewrite 3: can’t turn a hovel into a mansion
Rewrite 4: can’t turn slop3 into cheesecake
Comment: Although there are plenty of ugly things and lots of lovely things, they can't all be related into a metaphor like this. The original comparison had a rural quality to it that can be limiting for some writers. To preserve that quality, the fourth rewrite might be better with something more like "can't turn slop into cake" or "can't turn slop into meat loaf."
More reading about clichés
What I found when I googled “clichés”
• The Movie Clichés List by Giancarlo Cairella. Lots of different categories of movie clichés, like airplanes, alcohol, and nightmares.
Rewrite 1: can’t make a silk purse out of an elephant’s ear
Rewrite 2: can’t make a T-bone out of stew meat
Rewrite 3: can’t turn a hovel into a mansion
Rewrite 4: can’t turn slop3 into cheesecake
Comment: Although there are plenty of ugly things and lots of lovely things, they can't all be related into a metaphor like this. The original comparison had a rural quality to it that can be limiting for some writers. To preserve that quality, the fourth rewrite might be better with something more like "can't turn slop into cake" or "can't turn slop into meat loaf."
More reading about clichés
What I found when I googled “clichés”
• The Movie Clichés List by Giancarlo Cairella. Lots of different categories of movie clichés, like airplanes, alcohol, and nightmares.
From a reader of this blog (thanks for the plug on Twitter!)(Updated 11.11.09)
• See The Loco Diner for reuse of this cliche. Nicely written.
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Cliché: a stitch in time saves nine
Meaning: tend to it before it gets much worse
Rewrite 1: a dime in the meter now saves a $20 ticket later
Rewrite 2: a drip patched now avoids a flood4 bailed later
Rewrite 3: leaves1b(1) blown away today avoid piles of leaves raked1 later
Rewrite 4: you can manage it today while it's small or handle it as an emergency tomorrow
Comment: Just ask yourself, "What can I do today while it is a small matter that if I put off until a later time will seem more difficult or unmanageable?"
More reading about clichés
What I found when I googled “clichés”
• The Sports Cliché List by TicketRetriever.com. Lots of different categories of sports clichés, like “factor” clichés – clichés with “factor” in the phrase.
Rewrite 1: a dime in the meter now saves a $20 ticket later
Rewrite 2: a drip patched now avoids a flood4 bailed later
Rewrite 3: leaves1b(1) blown away today avoid piles of leaves raked1 later
Rewrite 4: you can manage it today while it's small or handle it as an emergency tomorrow
Comment: Just ask yourself, "What can I do today while it is a small matter that if I put off until a later time will seem more difficult or unmanageable?"
More reading about clichés
What I found when I googled “clichés”
• The Sports Cliché List by TicketRetriever.com. Lots of different categories of sports clichés, like “factor” clichés – clichés with “factor” in the phrase.
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Cliché: not for all the tea in China
Meaning: not for all you could get of something that is in abundance
Rewrite 1: not for all the coffee in Colombia
Rewrite 2: not for all the burkas in Iran
Rewrite 3: not for all the apples in the orchard
Rewrite 4: not for all the steps in the Sears Tower
Comment: There are lots of choices for comparison here. Just think of something of which there is an abundance and you pretty much have a rewrite.
More reading about clichés
What I found when I googled “clichés”
Rewrite 1: not for all the coffee in Colombia
Rewrite 2: not for all the burkas in Iran
Rewrite 3: not for all the apples in the orchard
Rewrite 4: not for all the steps in the Sears Tower
Comment: There are lots of choices for comparison here. Just think of something of which there is an abundance and you pretty much have a rewrite.
More reading about clichés
What I found when I googled “clichés”
- This has little to do with clichés in the context in which I use them, but it is kind of fun. Read Shoot the Cliché by jheather.
Monday, October 17, 2005
Cliché: know it like the back of my hand
Meaning: intimately known
Rewrite 1: know it like the moles1 on my chest
Rewrite 2: know it like the frown lines on my (spouse's) forehead
Rewrite 3: know it like the scent of my (lover's) favorite perfume
Rewrite 4: could recognize it in a crowd like a mother bird knows a chick's chirp
Rewrite 5: could pick him out of a lineup of identical twins
Comment: In the last rewrite, I wanted to use "look-a-likes" for its alliterative qualities, but isn't it redundantc to say "a lineup of look-a-likes"?
New feature:
More reading about clichés
What I found when I googled "cliches"
• The New Cliché: "It's the Wikipedia of..." at "loose wire" on September 29, 2005, by WSJ online columnist Jeremy Wagstaff.
Rewrite 1: know it like the moles1 on my chest
Rewrite 2: know it like the frown lines on my (spouse's) forehead
Rewrite 3: know it like the scent of my (lover's) favorite perfume
Rewrite 4: could recognize it in a crowd like a mother bird knows a chick's chirp
Rewrite 5: could pick him out of a lineup of identical twins
Comment: In the last rewrite, I wanted to use "look-a-likes" for its alliterative qualities, but isn't it redundantc to say "a lineup of look-a-likes"?
New feature:
More reading about clichés
What I found when I googled "cliches"
• The New Cliché: "It's the Wikipedia of..." at "loose wire" on September 29, 2005, by WSJ online columnist Jeremy Wagstaff.
Sunday, October 16, 2005
Cliché: a fish out of water
Meaning: someone or something outside of its natural element
Rewrite 1: a whale out of water
Rewrite 2: a lion out of the wild
Rewrite 3: an igloo out of the arctic
Rewrite 4: a bear in Goldilocks’ house
Rewrite 5: a man in a lingerie store
Comment: In this exercise, I listed things out of their natural element and things in an unnatural element.
Rewrite 1: a whale out of water
Rewrite 2: a lion out of the wild
Rewrite 3: an igloo out of the arctic
Rewrite 4: a bear in Goldilocks’ house
Rewrite 5: a man in a lingerie store
Comment: In this exercise, I listed things out of their natural element and things in an unnatural element.
Saturday, October 15, 2005
Cliché: busier than a one-armed paper hanger
Meaning: ridiculously busy
Rewrite 1: busier than a one-handed paper hanger
Rewrite 2: busier than a dog-walker in a yard full of cats
Rewrite 3: busier than a pumpkin-carver on a steep hill
Rewrite 4: more distracted than a cross-dresser in a locker room
Comment: There are a lot of interesting prospects for this cliché. Obviously the more extreme the case the more fun the metaphor. The last one above is a bit weaker than the others, but it still serves as an example of someone busy in very different, if not extremely different, circumstances.
Rewrite 1: busier than a one-handed paper hanger
Rewrite 2: busier than a dog-walker in a yard full of cats
Rewrite 3: busier than a pumpkin-carver on a steep hill
Rewrite 4: more distracted than a cross-dresser in a locker room
Comment: There are a lot of interesting prospects for this cliché. Obviously the more extreme the case the more fun the metaphor. The last one above is a bit weaker than the others, but it still serves as an example of someone busy in very different, if not extremely different, circumstances.
Friday, October 14, 2005
Cliché: cry over spilled milk
Meaning: to get upset over something basic
Rewrite 1: cry over spilled salt
Rewrite 2: cry over a dropped donut
Rewrite 3: lose sleep over losing a dime
Rewrite 4: hyperventilate over a typo
Comment: This cliché is sometimes also used to indicate sorrow over losing something basic when it is hard to come by. For instance, in tough times one might become upset over spilling the last serving of milk that one finds costly to replace.
Rewrite 1: cry over spilled salt
Rewrite 2: cry over a dropped donut
Rewrite 3: lose sleep over losing a dime
Rewrite 4: hyperventilate over a typo
Comment: This cliché is sometimes also used to indicate sorrow over losing something basic when it is hard to come by. For instance, in tough times one might become upset over spilling the last serving of milk that one finds costly to replace.
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Cliché: variety is the spice of life
Meaning: diversity is good
Rewrite 1: variety makes life sweet
Rewrite 2: variety makes almost everything better
Rewrite 3: variety is what’s great about life
Rewrite 4: diversity is sweetness itself
Rewrite 5: If variety were a soup, it would be “M-m-m, good!”
Caution: With this sentiment, it’s easy to sound sappy. Keep coming back to the essence of the cliché, which is that variety – diversity – is a great thing.
Rewrite 1: variety makes life sweet
Rewrite 2: variety makes almost everything better
Rewrite 3: variety is what’s great about life
Rewrite 4: diversity is sweetness itself
Rewrite 5: If variety were a soup, it would be “M-m-m, good!”
Caution: With this sentiment, it’s easy to sound sappy. Keep coming back to the essence of the cliché, which is that variety – diversity – is a great thing.
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Cliché: step on your toes
Meaning: get in your way or interfere with your progress
Rewrite 1: step on your heel
Rewrite 2: step on your sandals (or wingtips)
Rewrite 3: pull in front of you
Rewrite 4: rear-end you
Comment: These all describe accidental interference. More intended interference might be “moved ahead of you” or “blocked* you”.
*block -- transitive verb, in the sense of 4a.
Rewrite 1: step on your heel
Rewrite 2: step on your sandals (or wingtips)
Rewrite 3: pull in front of you
Rewrite 4: rear-end you
Comment: These all describe accidental interference. More intended interference might be “moved ahead of you” or “blocked* you”.
*block -- transitive verb, in the sense of 4a.
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