Cliché: go through the motions

Meaning: half-hearted or faked effort (example 1, example 2)


Rewrite 1: go through the commotions
Rewrite 2: pull a slight-of-motivation
Rewrite 3: deliver a hand puppet effort
Rewrite 4: pull a dead rabbit out of his hat
Rewrite 5: give it less than he's got


Comment: The idea here is to suggest how little life or earnestness there is in the effort. I thought adding a suggestion of sleight-of-hand or faked magic might be interesting, too.


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Speaking of magic
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Cliché: go for broke

Meaning: to risk or bet everything; try with all your might (example 1, example 2)


Rewrite 1: throw in the house and kids
Rewrite 2: go for tilt
Rewrite 3: bet to win the poorhouse
Rewrite 4: sweat half dollars
Rewrite 5: arrrr! till you pop an artery


Comment: Look at this arsenal of rewrites as walking the full line of meanings, from risk to betting to effort. Man, I'm tired!


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Living on the edge
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Cliché: don't give a hoot, I

Meaning: don't care about something (example 1, example 2)

Rewrite 1: don't give a tweet

Rewrite 2: don't give a bee's buzz

Rewrite 3: don't give a donkey's bray

Rewrite 4: don't give a leaf's chance in a gale

Rewrite 5: don't give a dwarf's wink in a toss 

Comment: The last recast of this cliché is probably more appropriate to "midget tossing," but I like the way the words work together better in this use.

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Nature writing

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Cliché: glutton for punishment, a

Meaning: someone who relishes in difficulty (example 1, example 2)


Rewrite 1: porker for punishment
Rewrite 2: pigging out on trouble
Rewrite 3: foodie for foolishness
Rewrite 4: bon vivant for burden
Rewrite 5: homesick for the hostile


Comment: The synonyms for "glutton" tend toward the gourmand, but the realistic side of this cliché is that these are people who over consume rather than enjoy the finer elements of something. That's why I've rewritten toward that aspect. You might need to work on the other.


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For when you want to write well on food
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Cliché: gloss over, to

Meaning: to minimize the ugly with the prettier (example 1, example 2)


Rewrite 1: do a paint job
Rewrite 2: cover the dents and bumps
Rewrite 3: brick over the chasm
Rewrite 4: cover the thorns with rose pedals
Rewrite 5: soften the sow with face powder
Rewrite 6: cover ugly with ylgu (better written than said)


Comment: Part of my attempt to recast this cliché was to restate the idiom in another way, part of it was to restate the purpose suggested behind the words. Let me know what you come up with.


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Quoting from your feminine side
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Cliché: give my right arm

Meaning: trade something very valuable for something else (example 1, example 2)


Rewrite 1: give my right hand
Rewrite 2: sell my right eye
Rewrite 3: barter the right side of my brain
Rewrite 4: trade my first-born child
Rewrite 5: give my winning lottery ticket
Rewrite 6: deal now and I'll double the offer - both my right and left arms


Comment: This presupposes someone favors their right side of anything - you can easily change these to the left if you're left handed or left sided.


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Add humor to your writing
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Cliché: get your foot in the door

Meaning: keep the opportunity alive (example)


Rewrite 1: block the door open
Rewrite 2: get past the door
Rewrite 3: keep the door and the mind open
Rewrite 4: the door is the sack but the chair is the completed pass
Rewrite 5: get your behind in the interview chair


Comment: Most of these cliché recasts center more on the job interview, but many can apply to sales calls and other situations where you want to get past a gatekeeper and before a potential "sale."


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If you are trying to edge your way through the door
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Cliché: get your feet wet

Meaning: do or experience something for the first time (example 1, example 2)


Rewrite 1: put a hair out of place
Rewrite 2: get your clothes dirty
Rewrite 3: nick your tools a little
Rewrite 4: get the shovel dirty
Rewrite 5: knock the shine off the nail head
Rewrite 6: put some dents in the chrome


Comment: Most of these are about first-time experiences, but many of them could also be about letting go of inhibitions - which the cliché could also be about. Sometimes a cliché has a main meaning but its meaning morphs as people add textures of understanding to its use.


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Language isn't static
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Cliché: get (have) your ducks in a row

Meaning: bring order to the world (example 1, example 2)


Rewrite 1: get your geese in formation
Rewrite 2: bring your circus into line
Rewrite 3: stack your food into pyramids
Rewrite 4: form your elements into periodic tables
Rewrite 5: make lists of your thoughts


Comment: This was a hard one to rewrite without simply mirroring the original. It's all about putting things out of order into order, and I tried to be as varied in the subject matter as possible.


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Getting organized
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Cliché: get your arms around it

Meaning: understand something fully (grasp it) (example)


Rewrite 1: grasp it with both arms
Rewrite 2: hug it with your mind
Rewrite 3: wrap your mind around it
Rewrite 4: measure it all the way around the waist
Rewrite 5: lift it full weight


Comment: This cliché is about grasping the full extent of a situation, so I tried to vary the idiom by describing ways you might view something weighty or unwieldy in a way that would let you appreciate its full measure.


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Measuring and writing for science
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Cliché: get with the program

Meaning: do what was laid out before you (example)


Rewrite 1: get with the plan
Rewrite 2: follow the schematic
Rewrite 3: read the map
Rewrite 4: draw on the feed
Rewrite 5: tap the brain
Rewrite 6: follow the grooves


Comment: Two possible senses of the cliché here: the more caustic "do what we told you to do" or the invitation to "join up!" 


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Writing more persuasive advertising copy
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Cliché: get a room

Meaning: suggestion to stop inappropriate displays of affection (example)


Rewrite 1: move it to the bedroom
Rewrite 2: should we get our own room?
Rewrite 3: put a wrap on that present and give it as a gift later
Rewrite 4: freeze that pose and we'll put it on display at the art museum
Rewrite 5: isn't that a scene written for film ... an X-rated film?


Comment: This cliché is usually repeated with some sarcasm, so the rewrites are presented in the same tone. 


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Retorts and other come-back lines
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Cliché: get a life

Meaning: focus on something more worthwhile (example)


Rewrite 1: get a new hobby
Rewrite 2: find a different obsession
Rewrite 3: joust with a different windmill 
Rewrite 4: dude, read a book, play a game, go into a coma, but drop this, okay?
Rewrite 5: Obi-Wan says, "This isn't the cause you were looking for...move along!"


Comment: This cliché is usually a put down, so I rewrote with that in mind.


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Things you wish you'd thought to say or write
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Cliché: get an earful, to

Meaning: hear a lot of feedback or ideas (example 1, example 2)


Rewrite 1: get an ear-jamming
Rewrite 2: heard enough to plug an ear
Rewrite 3: received enough suggestions to dam an ear canal
Rewrite 4: got an earache of ideas
Rewrite 5: received too much input - the other white noise


Comment: Although "get an earful" doesn't have to have a negative connotation, it often does. These are fairly neutral but all weigh in on the side of being overwhelmed.


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Speaking and writing more eloquently
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Cliché: make a federal case of

Meaning: blow something out of proportion (example 1, example 2)


Rewrite 1: go federal on me
Rewrite 2: appeal it to the high court
Rewrite 3: take me to the EPA
Rewrite 4: max the volume
Rewrite 5: peg my needle


Comment: I varied the references from law, to regulatory environment, to sound, to any kind of measurement where "peg" and "needle" refer to an analog metering device in which you want to keep the result below the red level and going into the red is called pegging. This provides a wide diversity of experiences. You can probably imagine many more.


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Words for making a federal case
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Cliché: filthy rich

Meaning: exceptionally rich, probably by dishonest means (example)


Rewrite 1: stenchly riches
Rewrite 2: fetid wealth
Rewrite 3: tainted pennies
Rewrite 4: rotted prosperity
Rewrite 5: a lode of ill repute


Comment: Most uses of this idiom haven't the connotation of ill favor. Likely, they think the "filthy" comes from how disgustingly dirty money becomes in its various visits to strange places.


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How to write for money people
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Effective Writing: A Handbook for Finance People

Cliché: fat as a cow (pig)

Meaning: literally, big as a cow (or pig), carrying excessive fat (example)


Rewrite 1: huge as a hippo
Rewrite 2: stout as a sumo
Rewrite 3: plump as an Easter feaster
Rewrite 4: big as a bassoon
Rewrite 5: corpulent as a vat of lard
Rewrite 6: wide as the rings of a big city circus


Comment: I varied the recast from big to fat to wide to provide ample examples.


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Professional writing
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Cliché: fall guy, the

Meaning: scapegoat, person who takes the fall or fault for something (example 1, example 2, example 3)


Rewrite 1: the faultee
Rewrite 2: the tag victim
Rewrite 3: the tar rag
Rewrite 4: Mr. take-it-for-the-team
Rewrite 5: winner, the blame game


Comment: These may be more obscure than "the fall guy" reference.


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Decoding obscure references
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Cliché: fair haired one (boy)

Meaning: favored or especially promising one or the favorite (example 1, example 2)


Rewrite 1: handsome-faced one
Rewrite 2: pretty-faced one
Rewrite 3: well proportioned one
Rewrite 4: well mannered one
Rewrite 5: mister do-no-wrong 
Rewrite 6: miss blemish-free


Comment: I couldn't find an original reference for this, but I suspect this idiom hearkens back to a fixation on kids with light colored or fair colored hair. Many such clichés stem from a jealousy of such people and so I tied my rewrites to people who are seen as favorites because of attributes tied to their looks and beyond their own control - fair hair, good looks, clear skin, good proportions. 


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Reading for sarcasm
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Cliché: fast buck, a

Meaning: easy money, often illegally gained (example 1, example 2)


Rewrite 1: a fast dollar
Rewrite 2: a quick nickel
Rewrite 3: fast finger funds
Rewrite 4: quick turn-around cash
Rewrite 5: magic money
Rewrite 6: now-you-see-it sums
Rewrite 7: dinero diablo (or devil money)


Comment: A fast buck can be earned quickly and easily plus legally. A kid who earns five bucks for plowing sidewalks in the winter makes a fast buck legally and morally, and the first two rewrites more support that notion.


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Turn a phrase, turn a few heads
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