Cliché: it takes two to tango

Meaning: conflict or other relations requires two (example 1, example 2)


Rewrite 1: it takes two to duet
Rewrite 2: it takes two to tangle
Rewrite 3: it takes two to shake hands
Rewrite 4: it takes two to share
Rewrite 5: it takes two sides to go to war


Comment: Some of my examples oversimplify relationships for the sake of providing an example, but you can easily modify the example or the statement to suit the situation.


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Idioms for younger writers
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Cliché: it isn't rocket science

Meaning: it isn't so advanced (example)


Rewrite 1: it isn't particle physics
Rewrite 2: it isn't quantum computing
Rewrite 3: it isn't galactic entanglement
Rewrite 4: it isn't advanced calculus
Rewrite 5: it isn't superstructure engineering


Comment: This is about using the complex to imply the simple. It doesn't have to be science - what about advanced crochet technique or organizational chart engineering?


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Spruce up your idioms
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Cliché: isn't all it's cracked up to be

Meaning: it's disappointing (example)


Rewrite 1: isn't the egg the goose gaggled over
Rewrite 2: isn't the omellette the chef's commotion stirred up
Rewrite 3: isn't the pile-up the four-mile backup promised
Rewrite 4: isn't the gift all the wrapping presents
Rewrite 5: isn't the raise the boss's praises implied




Comment: "Cracked up" means "praise" in its original though seldom-used form, but it's difficult to find another way to repeat that, so I went for other things that "crack up" that might create a similar intention. Thus, the egg references and the pile up. Can you think of another way to bring back the original sense of praise in this idiom?


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Playing devil's advocate this once
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Cliché: it's no use crying over spilled milk

Meaning: don't sweat the little things you can't change (example)


Rewrite 1: no use crying over burnt toast
Rewrite 2: no use moaning over crumbled crackers
Rewrite 3: no use stressing over 404 error page returns
Rewrite 4: no use pouting over pennies down sewer drains
Rewrite 5: no use mourning chipped fingernails


Comment: I tried to retain the flavor of life's little disappointments, which is what the original intones.


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Picking up more idioms
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Cliché: Is it soup yet?

Meaning: is it ready? (example)


Rewrite 1: soup poured?
Rewrite 2: done cookin'?
Rewrite 3: table set yet?
Rewrite 4: still in the oven?
Rewrite 5: pie still cooling?


Comment: I've maintained the food or eating metaphor, but there should be plenty of others you could use. For instance, building: Walls up? Decorating: Paint dry? Programming: Code up?


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Food on your keyboard
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Cliché: skating on thin ice

Meaning: taking a big risk (example)


Rewrite: swimming in deep waters
Rewrite: walking on ice
Rewrite: upstaging a diva 
Rewrite: running with scissors
Rewrite: skipping a stiff rope


Comment: This cliché was the suggestion of Jacques. Thanks, Jacques! I tried to come up with different risky scenarios without sounding too rediculous.


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More on metaphors
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Cliché: in your dreams

Meaning: a challenge of disbelief (example)


Rewrite: in your mind's eye
Rewrite: in the world of make-believe
Rewrite: as the fantasy flies
Rewrite: with your imaginary friends
Rewrite: when you're on meds


Comment: This is usually said as a taunt, so think more in terms of sarcasm.


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More on dreams
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Cliché: about as pleasant as a trip to the dentist

Meaning: anxiety inducers


Rewrite 1: about as pleasant as a trip to the principal's office
Rewrite 2: about as fun as a trip to the emergency room
Rewrite 3: all the joy of an appointment with the IRS
Rewrite 4: with the anticipation of a call from a telemarketer
Rewrite 5: with the calm of being surrounded by pickpockets


Comment: My thanks to author @jaypapasan for suggesting this challenging idiom, which may or may not rise to the definition of cliche. Jay says it attracts 77k hits on Google, a respectable showing. However, I couldn't find it on any searches that identified as a classic written cliche. Rather, it showed up as more of a cultural cliche, an idea that keeps popping up in references, which is that nothing is a fearful as a trip to the dentist. So perhaps our job here isn't so much to rewrite an idiom as to suggest there may be equal or worse things to fear as a visit with Dr. Tooth. 


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To make us all feel better about that trip to the dentist

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Cliché: in the nick of time

Meaning: just in time (example)


Rewrite 1: in the tick of a tock
Rewrite 2: before the zeroes clicked over
Rewrite 3: before the bell buzzed
Rewrite 4: before a spark becomes a flame
Rewrite 5: before he could hit "send" 


Comment: The last couple of examples are more moments than time, yet I think they equally apply.


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More on idioms
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Cliché: in the hot seat

Meaning: difficult position (example)


Rewrite: in the frying pan
Rewrite: in the flood plain
Rewrite: in a war zone
Rewrite: on the nail head
Rewrite: over an open manhole
Rewrite: holding a live wire


Comment: I tried to not just concentrate on "hot" situations, but also included difficult circumstances.


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Words of conflict
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Cliché: in the clear

Meaning: blameless or innocent (example 1)(example 2)


Rewrite 1: passed clean suspect inspection
Rewrite 2: traveling barrier-free
Rewrite 3: the fog surrounding you has lifted
Rewrite 4: the dark cloud hovering over you just rained out
Rewrite 5: the trash talk has shifted to somebody else


Comment: There is an other use for this idiom related to cashflow, but all the references I found online were to blamelessness.


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Cliché: in the cards, it's

Meaning: predicatble (example, scroll down), predicted (example)


Rewrite: Swami has fortold it
Rewrite: I found it in the Bible Code
Rewrite: you will find it in the star charts
Rewrite: I knew it! I could have run the table on it!
Rewrite: it was known before they shuffled the cards


Comment: This is more about foreknowledge than predictability.


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Cliché: in on the ground floor

Meaning: involved from the beginning (example)


Rewrite 1: in at the lobby level
Rewrite 2: entering before the crowd arrives
Rewrite 3: begin where everything is "up"
Rewrite 4: start with the hand-over of the keys
Rewrite 5: Getting to 60 from zero


Comment: The last one was inspired by Top Gear (UK), which I was watching at the time.


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Cliché: in harm's way

Meaning: making yourself available to be harmed (example)


Rewrite 1: in harm's glide path
Rewrite 2: on harm's playground
Rewrite 3: on harm-friendly grounds
Rewrite 4: playing on harm's turf
Rewrite 5: right where harm wants you


Comment: There was plenty of room to work using just harm as the central keyword, but I'd like to see what you might come up with for words other than harm.


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Writing about crime
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Cliché: I'm not getting any younger

Meaning: impatience; literally, I'm getting old waiting for you (example)


Rewrite: you take so long, my wrinkles are getting bigger than my boobs
Rewrite: I'm on my second pair of dentures waiting for you
Rewrite: the seasons seem to come and go with you
Rewrite: you might think I'm looking for dirt under my nails; I'm actually watching them grow
Rewrite: my alarm clock is having a nervous breakdown over here


Comment: Is it me, or does this sound like Billy Crystal playing the old man saying these lines? It isn't intentional. Maybe it's because the original idiom is kind of a punch line, anyway.


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Use humor in your writing
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Cliché: bet dollars to doughnuts, I'll

Meaning: bet something of significance against something less significant (example)


Rewrite: bet dollars to dimes
Rewrite: bet hub caps to lug nuts
Rewrite: bet Cadillacs to Yugos
Rewrite: bet screws to glue sticks
Rewrite: bet gallons to pints
Rewrite: bet trees to saplings


Comment: There's present here a confidence that you're betting something of higher value against something of lesser value because you're going to win.


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Just what do those idioms mean?
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Cliché: if I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times

Meaning: frustration at having to repeat something too often (example)


Rewrite 1: I must be in an echo chamber, I'm saying it again!
Rewrite 2: I could swear I've heard me say this before
Rewrite 3: Let me say it for the thousand-and-first time...
Rewrite 4: maybe you didn't hear it the first thousand times
Rewrite 5: I've said this hundreds of times already, but let me repeat one last time for effect


Comment: There's a lot of sarcasm present in these rewrites, perhaps because the original is so close to stating the case with only some exaggeration. Can you say this in a meaningful way without sarcasm?


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Some writing calls for sarcasm

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Cliché: ice water in his veins

Meaning: cold reserve such that nothing bothers him (example)


Rewrite 1: Arctic water in his veins
Rewrite 2: glacier runoff in his arteries
Rewrite 3: cold beer in his pipes
Rewrite 4: refrigerator coolant in his lungs
Rewrite 5: running on freezing rain and hailstones
Rewrite 6: oozes smoothies through his heart


Comment: I'm thinking very cold and very slow to excite.


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Getting back to nature
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Cliché: hump day

Meaning: Wednesday, day mid-week that gets you over the "hump" (example)


Rewrite 1: camel back day
Rewrite 2: road bump day
Rewrite 3: leaf pile day
Rewrite 4: Bell Curve day
Rewrite 5: high jump day
Rewrite 6: leap frog day


Comment: At first I thought of other kinds of humps or bumps or piles you get over, then I thought of obstacles you go over to get to the other side. There are lots of creative ways to say "I'm half way over the week."


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For when you run out of words
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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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