Cliché: hardheaded

Meaning: hard to get through to or to effect change (example)


Rewrite 1: cement headed
Rewrite 2: steel haired
Rewrite 3: mind with the welcome mat turned upside down
Rewrite 4: brain with the access panel welded shut
Rewrite 5: opinions guarded better than the vault at Fort Knox


Comment: There is a sense of this idiom which is quite literal, but mostly it means stubborn; thus, the rewrites about close-mindedness. 


Share your thoughts with me on Twitter: @a_copywriter
...
Speaking of stubborn opinions
(commission may be paid on purchase)

Cliché: hard to swallow

Meaning: hard to believe or accept (example)

Rewrite 1: hard to chew

Rewrite 2: difficult load to lift

Rewrite 3: cumbersome package to carry

Rewrite 4: hard to hoe

Rewrite 5: rocky bit of earth to dig

Comment: There are actually a lot of interesting ways to recast this idiom, depending on the situation. I'll bet you can find even more inventive ways to reword this bitter spoonful of medicine.

Say hello on Twitter: @a_copywriter

...

If you've ever thought of writing about food

(commission may be paid on purchase)

Cliché: happy as a clam at full tide

Meaning: contented (example)


Rewrite 1: happy as a worm at the bottom of the compost pile
Rewrite 2: happy as moth with a fresh beam of light
Rewrite 3: happy as a cat with a full ball of yarn
Rewrite 4: happy as a dog at an archeological dig
Rewrite 5: happy as a cow greeted with a warm pair of hands


Comment: Unlike "happy as a lark" this isn't about unabated happiness, this is about satisfaction and contentment. So the rewrites or recasts should be about situations where the subject has either found himself/herself in an unusual situation or an ecstatic moment. I'd love to see what you come up with.


Tweet me: @a_copywriter
...
Talking about nature...
(commission may be paid on purchase)

Cliché: happy as a lark

Meaning: happy and full of life (example)


Rewrite 1: hamming it up like a hummingbird
Rewrite 2: frolicsome as a goldfinch
Rewrite 3: nutty as a nuthatch
Rewrite 4: carefree as a canary
Rewrite 5: boisterous as a bronco


Comment: Although this idiom is more about acting happy and carefree, it can also be about being free and noisy - thus, the final rewrite. You're only limited by the sense in which you need to express the metaphor.


Follow me on Twitter: @a_copywriter
...
Getting creative about nature writing 
(commission may be paid on purchase)

Cliché: happy camper

Meaning: an easily satisfied person or easily made comfortable (example)


Rewrite 1: elated outdoorsman
Rewrite 2: blissful backpacker
Rewrite 3: contented tent stalker
Rewrite 4: smiling sleepingbagger
Rewrite 5: smug smooresman


Comment: To recreate the flavor of this idiom I think you need to relate back to the essence of the camping experience. The more you can blend them into the language the closer you will come to capturing its spirit.


Tell me about it on Twitter: @a_copywriter
...
The language of camping
(commission may be paid onpurchase)
My internship for sporting goods dealer: More than just writing about camping equipment

Cliché: haste makes waste

Meaning: acting too quickly brings ruin (example)


Rewrite 1: urgency creates emergencies
Rewrite 2: speed up and screw up
Rewrite 3: quickly makes sickly
Rewrite 4: fast is surpassed
Rewrite 5: pressed for time means messed on design


Comment: This is one of those idioms that's popular partly because of its rhyme, so I tried to stay with that attitude while I was rewriting. See what you can come up with.


Tweet me: @a_copywriter 
...
Writing with rhyme and reason
(commission may be paid on purchase)

Cliché: half-baked idea, a

Meaning: an idea or concept not completely thought through (example) 


Rewrite 1: half-boiled idea
Rewrite 2: half-stirred suggestion
Rewrite 3: half-primed plan
Rewrite 4: half-dressed thought
Rewrite 5: half-knotted scheme
Rewrite 6: barely seared concept


Comment: Although many of these rewrites are cooking related I did try to vary the metaphor. They are all related to ideas, but I'm betting you can think of some other applications for applying this idiom.


Share your rewrites with all of us in Comments. Stop by and say hello on Twitter: @a_copywriter 
...
More words on food
(commission may be paid on purchase)

Cliché: go belly up, to

Meaning: failure, bankruptcy, even death (example 1, example 2)


Rewrite 1: tank with the fishes
Rewrite 2: suffer a goldfish swirly
Rewrite 3: go all rigor mortise on us
Rewrite 4: time in the elephant burial grounds
Rewrite 5: headed for the hereafter


Comment: It's hard to write metaphorically about the death of something without sounding maudlin or even insensitive. I tried to cover various caricatures of death for more picturesque speech. 


How would you twist this one? Send me a shout-out via Twitter: @a_copywriter
...
Writing about death
(commission may be paid for purchase)

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.


How would you rewrite it? Give me a shout on Twitter: @a_copywriter
...
Speaking of magic
(commission may be paid on purchase)

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!


Tell me what you would have said. I'm on Twitter:@a_copywriter
...
Living on the edge
(commission may be paid on purchase)

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.

What rewrites have you thought to use? Share them on Twitter: @a_copywriter

...

Nature writing

(commission may be paid on purchase)

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.


Share what you come up with - I'm on Twitter: @a_copywriter
...
For when you want to write well on food
(commission may be paid on purchase)

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.


Share your thoughts on Twitter: @a_copywriter
...
Quoting from your feminine side
(commission may be paid for purchase)

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.


Stop by on Twitter and share your rewrites with me: @a_copywriter
...
Add humor to your writing
(commission may be paid for purchase)

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."


Check out my Twitter page and say hello! @a_copywriter
...
If you are trying to edge your way through the door
(commission may be paid for purchase)

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.


Have a cliché you'd like to see me recast? Tell me here or on Twitter: @a_copywriter
...
Language isn't static
(commission may be paid for purchase)

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.


Come say "Hi!" when you're on Twitter: @a_copywriter
...
Getting organized
(commission may be paid for purchase)

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.


Follow me on Twitter: @a_copywriter
...
Measuring and writing for science
(commission may be paid for purchase)

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!" 


Please follow me on Twitter: @a_copywriter
...
Writing more persuasive advertising copy
(commission may be paid for purchase)

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. 


Next time you're on Twitter, say hello: @a_copywriter
...
Retorts and other come-back lines
(commission may be paid for purchase)