cliché: Kodak moment, a

Meaning: a wonderful, sentimental moment (sometimes meant satirically) (example 1, example 2)


Rewrite 1: a Kodachrome frame
Rewrite 2: a soft-focus moment
Rewrite 3: get all Kodacky on me
Rewrite 4: here's a picture shy on sincerity
Rewrite 5: a photo-op moment


Comment: The danger with this idiom is that with the demise of Kodak, the "Kodak moment" now may slip into obscurity or fall into a sense of the no-longer-relevant.
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cliché: knuckle under

Meaning: consent reluctantly/give in (example)


Rewrite 1: fold to the uppercut
Rewrite 2: give in to the grimmace
Rewrite 3: cave to the nipple pinch
Rewrite 4: succumb to sarcasm
Rewrite 5: fall to a twisted plot


Comment: Faced with a set of knucles clenched under your chin, you might reluctantly bow to someone's demand. I've rewritten this idiom in that vein, then taken it in some "other" directions for fun.
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cliché: knuckle sandwich

Meaning: a punch in the mouth (example)


Rewrite 1: fist brunch
Rewrite 2: bare knuckle salad
Rewrite 3: Bronx dental cleaning
Rewrite 4: five-finger lip enlargement
Rewrite 5: party punch served with a five-finger shot glass


Comment: The original was always so evocative and image provoking; I tried to keep these in a similar frame.
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cliché: knuckle down

Meaning: get busy/work harder (example 1, example 2)


Rewrite 1: fist press
Rewrite 2: full body face press
Rewrite 3: full court grapple
Rewrite 4: muscle pin it
Rewrite 5: gang tackle it


Comment: I think in this instance, "knuckle down" means to bear down upon or bear your weight on something. I've attempted to wrestle this one with as many grappling metaphors as I could manhandle without getting sweaty and pulling a sciatic nerve.
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cliché: know where you stand

Meaning: certain of your position (example)


Rewrite 1: know where your feet meet the peet
Rewrite 2: be one with your position
Rewrite 3: be certain of your soundings
Rewrite 4: stand firm with your roots
Rewrite 5: know where the wind can't blow you, the river can't move you, and the cattle can't run you over


Comment: This one, which took a few days to work on, can be both about current position and how you see things, so I tried to reflect both.
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cliché: know the score

Meaning: aware of the facts or numbers/understand (example 1, example 2, example 3)


Rewrite 1: know the count
Rewrite 2: recite the numbers
Rewrite 3: deliver the outcome
Rewrite 4: handle the stats
Rewrite 5: replay the highlights


Comment: This idiom is often about sports scores, but there is also a use that is about musical score. I have kept it to sports but I'll bet you can think of rewrites for music.


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cliché: know the ropes

Meaning: knowledge or experience (example 1, example 2, example 3)


Rewrite 1: know the knots
Rewrite 2: know the sea
Rewrite 3: know the roll of the ship
Rewrite 4: know when to duck, jump, and swerve
Rewrite 5: aware of the holes, lifts, and falls
Rewrite 6: know every branch on the tree


Comment: The origins of this idiom are acknowledged to be from the sea, but there are two ways to look at it: know the rigging or know how to get around on it in various sea weather. I try to suit both.


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cliché: knock out, a

Meaning: a beautiful woman (example)


Rewrite 1: a beauty brain freeze
Rewrite 2: an EMP (Eyes Might Pop-out)
Rewrite 3: a power outage
Rewrite 4: a lines-down and lights-out
Rewrite 5: an E-EFFEN-5!
Rewrite 6: a femme fatality


Comment: It was hard to write something that knocks you out without being a negative, which the original clearly is not.


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cliché: knock on wood

Meaning: superstitious act to avoid bad luck (example)


Rewrite 1: fist bump wood
Rewrite 2: high-five a tree
Rewrite 3: bonk an oak
Rewrite 4: knuckle a plank
Rewrite 5: back-hand some veneer
Rewrite 6: slap some ash


Comment: Not sure if in superstition these substitutions would be seen to work in the place of actually knocking on wood with your knuckles, but it would certainly work to freshen the language.


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cliché: kiss and tell

Meaning: do in private then tell in public (example 1, example 2)


Rewrite 1: kiss and tweet
Rewrite 2: bed and blab
Rewrite 3: grab and brag
Rewrite 4: see and shill
Rewrite 5: expose-say!
Rewrite 6: blab-e-ography


Comment: This often describes an elicit affair or activity so many of these are kanted that way, but I also tried to add some that tilt toward other secret knowledge made public.
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cliché: king's ransom, a

Meaning: a lot of money (example)


Rewrite 1: a royal dowry
Rewrite 2: a CEO's buyout
Rewrite 3: a whistleblower's hush fund
Rewrite 4: a lobbyist's expense account
Rewrite 5: a child's nap bribe


Comment: This idiom originated with ulterior motives, so I tried to stay with that theme in rewriting it, even if playfully so.
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Cliché: kick the bucket

Meaning: to die (example)


Rewrite 1: kick over the chair
Rewrite 2: knock over the bucket
Rewrite 3: choke on the rope
Rewrite 4: trip into the tight loop of a noose
Rewrite 5: lose the wiggle-room battle with a noose


Comment: This idiom originates from a reference to suicide - tying a rope to a tree, hanging one's self by the rope, standing on a bucket, and then kicking the bucket out from beneath one's self. I've made these rewrites mostly based on that reference.


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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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