Cliche: keep your nose to the grindstone

Meaning: work, fool! (example)


Rewrite 1: Keep your hand to the plow handle
Rewrite 2: keep your eye on the page
Rewrite 3: keep your back to the barricade
Rewrite 4: keep your mind too busy to wander
Rewrite 5: keep your knees planted in the garden


Comment: Some of this about focus,some of this is about commitment. I tried to capture both in this rewrite.


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Cliche: keep your powder dry

Meaning: reserve your resources (example)


Rewrite 1: keep your wick dry
Rewrite 2: keep your shot handy
Rewrite 3: keep the pantry stocked
Rewrite 4: keep the pump primed
Rewrite 5: keep the inkwell filled
Rewrite 6: keep the Reserves nearby


Comments: I tried to vary from close to the metaphor to wide of the metaphor but close to the idea. See how you do in rewriting this classic.


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Cliche: keep your hair on

Meaning: be calm, don't over-react (example)


Rewrite 1: keep your wig on
Rewrite 2: keep your curls on
Rewrite 3: keep your fringe covered
Rewrite 4: keep your calm on
Rewrite 5: keep your cool on
Rewrite 6: don't lose your wig to your worries




Comment: Although this rewrite focuses more on hair and hair substitutes, there are surely more ways to rewrite this cliche. How else might you you say it conveying the same sense?


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Cliche: keep your eyes open (peeled)

Meaning: be alert or watchful (example)


Rewrite 1: keep your sense of sight on the sense of action
Rewrite 2: be wide-eyed and super-detailed
Rewrite 3: watch with every eye you have
Rewrite 4: make sure the "eyes" have it
Rewrite 5: keep your senses on high alert




Comment: Making a direct translation into other idioms or metaphors for this cliche was difficult so I had to stretch it a little, but I think I accomplished my goal. Good luck on your attempts.


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An eye on poetry
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Cliche: Keep your chin up!

Meaning: remain upbeat (example)


Rewrite 1: Chin into the wind!
Rewrite 2: Chin above the water!
Rewrite 3: Make your chin your prow through troubled waters.
Rewrite 4: Eyes open, nose parallel to the ground, and chin leading forward!
Rewrite 5: Lead with the chin for the win!

Comment: Although I usually try to vary the subjects of my metaphors, in this case I thought I'd maintain the chin as the single focus and vary the idioms around it. How else might you rewrite this cliche?

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Growing idiomatically
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Cliché: keep your fingers crossed

Meaning: hope for your wanted outcome (example)


Rewrite 1: keep your fingers x'd
Rewrite 2: keep your fingers locked
Rewrite 3: keep your fingers tied
Rewrite 4: keep your knuckles knotted
Rewrite 5: keep your digits tangled


Comment: A variant is "cross your fingers," so you could also play with that in this rewrite.


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Twisted words and phrases
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Cliché: keep an eye on you

Meaning: constantly watch or monitor you (example)


Rewrite 1: keep a lens focused on you
Rewrite 2: know where you are even when you don't know where you are
Rewrite 3: know you better than yesterday's most embarrassing memory
Rewrite 4: be on you like spot on a dog
Rewrite 5: stay on you like lint on a suit


Comment: This idiom can be about being on the watch for an up-and-coming new star or on the lookout for a troublemaker, or someone in between. I've taken the latter because it seemed more fun. What can you do with this one?


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Speaking brilliantly of parts
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Cliché: keep it down

Meaning: be quiet! (example)


Rewrite 1: tap it down
Rewrite 2: keep it low
Rewrite 3: keep it under a decible
Rewrite 4: put a silencer on it
Rewrite 5: soundproof it
Rewrite 6: mute it


Comment: "It" is noise, "down" is volume. Stow it, buddy. Any creative way to say it is better than "Keep it down."


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Writing in idioms
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Cliché: just around the bend

Meaning: around the next curve in the road (example)


Rewrite: beyond the dip in the road
Rewrite: up past the light and to the right
Rewrite: next stop past the turnpike
Rewrite: just yonder a bit
Rewrite: up the road a piece


Comment: This is often a visual cue in absence of measured distance, so almost any noticable change in landscape will do. The last two are more nebulous but probably reasonable alternatives.


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Speaking plain American
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Cliché: jockeying for position

Meaning: racing/competing for position (example 1, example2)


Rewrite 1: jockeying for show, place, or win
Rewrite 2: dancing for last couple standing
Rewrite 3: elbowing for a place in the line
Rewrite 4: fighting over bargains at the sale
Rewrite 5: toe-stretching for tallest


Comment: This really boils down to competition, and there are many ways to win. How would you reword it?


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Write like a good sport
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Cliché: a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

Meaning: the longest, most arduous task still has a beginning (example)


Rewrite: a walk of a thousand steps begins with the first footfall
Rewrite: a cross-country drive begins as a drive down the street
Rewrite: a day at the shoppe begins by stepping out of the house
Rewrite: a read of a thousand pages begins with a single word
Rewrite: a lengthy shopping list still begins with the first item
Rewrite: cleaning a big mess begins by mopping the first spill


Comment: Part of preserving the essence of this Chinese proverb is repeating its sensibility and rhythm.


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More Chinese wisdom
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Cliché: jump on the bandwagon

Meaning: get with what is popular (example)


Rewrite: leap onto the stage
Rewrite: get your name on the winner's list
Rewrite: get all military in the march
Rewrite: take the top spot in the parade
Rewrite: show your groove on the holiday float


Comment: Part of this idiom is about support, part of it is about grabbing your moment in the spotlight. 


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Writing with wit
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Cliché: jump in with both feet

Meaning: do something quickly and completely (example)


Rewrite: leap in with both feet
Rewrite: jump in with all fours
Rewrite: commit without counting toes
Rewrite: leave no toe behind
Rewrite: plant both heels firmly into it


Comment: I tried to keep the foot metaphor alive in the idiom. How would you rewrite this?


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More on idioms
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Cliché: jack of all trades and a master of none, a

Meaning: average talent with no special skills


Rewrite 1: a mean hauler of sails who can't tie off a knot
Rewrite 2: he can swing a mean hammer but can't hit a nail
Rewrite 3: all tool belt and no tools
Rewrite 4: good at coloring inside the box but can't stay in the lines
Rewrite 5: Mr. Handy, Mr. Thumbs


Comment: A "jack" was an average seaman while a "master" was a highly skilled craftsman on a ship, so this idiom originates with the early sea service. A jack might be good at doing general duties on ship, but he wouldn't be rated a master until he could do extraordinary work. I started by trying to rewrite these to give some sense of those skills or lack of said, then generalized from there.


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Sounding like a sea dog
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Cliché: it's a game of inches

Meaning: a sport or effort with minimal gains or losses


Rewrite 1: it's a game of small advances
Rewrite 2: it's a game of not-quite-theres
Rewrite 3: it's a contest of minor gains
Rewrite 4: it's a match of major disappointments
Rewrite 5: it's a sport of near misses


More possible rewrites:


Rewrite 6: a game of barely movable objects
Rewrite 7: a game of well planted heels
Rewrite 8: a game of well defended options
Rewrite 9: a game of steel-staked positions
Rewrite 10: a game of hard fought lines
Rewrite 11: a contest of won'ts
Rewrite 12: a match between wills


Comment: This was a tough rewrite for me, trying to find new ways to recast the "inches" in a meaningful way. In the end, I decided to redefine the end-product and not the measurement. In the send batch of rewrites, I wrote about less sports-related efforts. Where would you have taken this?


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Speaking of sports
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Cliché: in the bag

Meaning: achieved; achievement certain (example)


Rewrite 1: bagged it, dude!
Rewrite 2: tagged, dragged, and bagged
Rewrite 3: locked in
Rewrite 4: glued and screwed
Rewrite 5: water tight


Comment: I went from hunting metaphors to security and craftsmanship metaphors. Let's see what you can do with it.


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Cliché: it's a lemon

Meaning: useless; doesn't work (example)


Rewrite 1: squeeze it, you might get lemonade
Rewrite 2: two more and you can make a meringue pie
Rewrite 3: it has a hint of citrus
Rewrite 4: this thing's so sour it's turning lemon yellow
Rewrite 5: if this isn't a lemon, it's the most yellow lime I've ever seen


Comment: Rather than paralleling the "it's a ..." construction, I tried to work with ways of expressing a lemony quality to say the same thing. 




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Speaking of Lemony Things
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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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