cliché: a bad hair day

Meaning: literally an untidy-hair day; also a disagreeable day. (definitions).

Example: Nothing was going well, it struck me I was having a bad hair day.

Origins: Literal use of words, became popular saying 1990-1995. (Source.)

Rewrites:

• a pillow hair day
• a convertible-air hair day
• a knobby sweater day
• a chipped tooth day
• an open zipper day

Discussion: Many of these define bad hair, others define a bad day.

cliché: a bum rap

Meaning: unfair blame or criticism (definition).

Example: The website got a bum rap for being difficult to reach, which was the result of a DOS attack.  (examples.)

Origins: bum as an adjective means of poor quality or useless, 19^th century; rap as a term for criminal charge comes circa 1865 (History1. History 2.) 

Rewrites:

• bum blame
• bum slam
• twisted rap
• lame critique
• cheap lip
• stretched bitch

Discussion: I have gone from very close to the original to very far from it but still encasing the meaning. This one took some work with a thesaurus.

cliché: bad blood

Meaning: animosity between people (definition).

Example: A good fence often keeps bad blood between neighbors from escalating into a good war.

Origins: Blood and emotions; among first uses, Essays of Elia by Charles Lamb in 1823. (Source.)

Rewrites:

• foul blood
• tainted blood
• bile in the blood
• vein hatred
• ill tempered muscle
• fury in the guts

Discussion: I have tried to rework both the concept of emotion and where that emotion resides. 

cliché: back to the drawing board

Meaning: restart from the beginning (definition).

Example: When the project failed, the boss said, “back to the drawing board, team.”

Origins: New Yorker magazine cartoon in 1941. (Source.) 

Rewrites:

• back to the drafting table (sketch book)
• start over with clean paper
• fresh doodle-pad, lads
• lets refresh with a mental reboot
• sharpen the wits and freshen the creative juices
• go out the door and come back in like this idea never happened

Discussion: How might we rewrite this to reflect the switch over to generating ideas on computer screens?

cliché: back to square one

Meaning: return to the beginning; start again.

Example: If this experiment doesn’t yield the answer, we’ll have to go back to square one.

Origins: Various possibilities: English football broadcasts, board games, or hopscotch.

  (Definitions and origins.)

  (Examples.)

Rewrites:

• revisit square one
• back to “Start”
• back to launch
• time to reboot
• reset to zero

Discussion: I mainly worked with the board game scenario, since that seems to me to be the most apt metaphor. 

cliché: a backstabber

Meaning: to attack someone unfairly (definition). 

Example: As a co-worker reporting discreetly to the boss, she was a backstabber scuttling his career.

Origins: From 1920’s, one who acts behind someone’s back or “stabs your back.” (Source 1. Source 2.) 

Rewrites: 

• a blindside attacker
• an ear thumper
• a kidney puncher
• a heel scraper or crusher
• a ponytail dipper or grabber

Discussion: I struggled to find something closer to “back stabber” but didn’t come up with anything. Perhaps you will?

cliché: a back seat driver

Meaning: one who criticizes from the sidelines (definition).

Example: From the other side of the counter, Marge made continual suggestions on how to mix the recipe, in her typical role as back-seat driver.

Origins: From the modern day automobile passenger who freely comments on the driving habits of drivers. (Source.)

Rewrites

• back seat adviser
• rumble seat supervisor
• rear seat moderator
• coach seat pilot
• over-the-shoulder editor
• offsite oversight
• blind guide 

Discussion: Not sure these are all equivalent rewrites, but they all give a flavor of the metaphor intended. 

cliché: a back handed compliment

Meaning: Insult disguised as a compliment (definition)(thesaurus).

Example: He delivered a backhanded compliment by insulting her on the strength of her perfume. (Example.)

Origin: As a synonym for left-handed and the left side of the body considered sinister. (Source.)

Rewrites:

• a knuckle-backed compliment
• back handed kudos
• aced an insult
• a flutter-eyed compliment
• a slight served to your weak side
• a slap delivered with a left-handed wink

Discussion: (1) Here, “weak side” and “back hand” can apply to either left-handedness or right-handedness. (2) Also used as "back handed comment."

cliché: back against the wall

Meaning: desperate, with no other options (definition).

Example: In a strange city and her wallet stolen, her back was against the wall.

Origins: expression from fighting. (Also, “back to the wall”). (Source.)

Rewrites:

• back against the bricks
• backside to sheet rock
• face to the fence
• facing six sides of the walls
• penned in by walls, fences, and borders
• no escape but a bottomless pit
• facing a ladder well shy of a climb to the top
• facing a hallway ending in a locked door

Discussion: What other words do you have for “wall” or “back”? 

cliché: a babe in the woods

Meaning: a naive, defenseless young person (definition).

Example: Sometimes Charlie saw things so simply, he was a babe in the woods.

Origins: Traditional children’s tale “Babes in the Wood”. (Source.)

Rewrites:

• a lamb in the woods
• a babe in the briers
• a chick in the fox den
• a rich kid in the hood
• a yuppie in the barnyard
• a sweetie in the locker room
• a innocent in the exercise yard

Discussion: Admittedly, some of these may cross class lines or stereotypes, which isn’t my intention; rather it’s to show someone far out of his or her element. 

cliché: an ax (axe) to grind

Meaning: Have a dispute or issue with another (definition). Also, having self-interest for doing something (definition).

Example: In being left paying for lunch, I had an ax to grind with my colleague. (Also: Holding the luncheon at his restaurant where he stood to make a lot of money, he had a pretty big ax to grind.)

Origins: (Source1.) (Source2.)

Rewrites:

• an ax to hone
• an ax to wield
• a grumble to parlay
• an office to tend
• a gift horse to feed
• a sugar daddy to sweeten

Discussion: I’ve attempted to serve both versions, first in the top three then in the bottom three.

cliché: at the end of the day

Meaning: the bottom line, in the final analysis (definition).

Example: 1+1 will always equal 2, at the end of the day. (Examples.)

Origins: Seems to have been first used in a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) but first recorded uses in print were from the 1950s onward (source). Saw a rapid rise in usage from 1985 onward (source).

Rewrites:

• as day closes
• as the final seconds tick away
• faced to choose at the midnight hour
• when debate time ends
• lacking extended time for flags and penalties
• at end of official play
• as you time out

Discussion: You might think of ways to recast this idiom other than the time metaphor, but for this rewrite I have maintained that theme.

cliché: at the end of my rope

Meaning: out of options or alternatives (definition).

Example: My cell phone was locked in the car with my keys and wallet - I was at the end of my rope.

Origins: A rope thrown to someone for help or provided as a resource. (Sources. OED [b])

Rewrites:

• at the loose end of an untethered rope (rescue)
• grabbed the short end of a shrinking rope (resource)
• ran out of ladder
• reduced to pennies and pocket lint
• bailing with a bottomless pail
• at the mercy of a slippery rope with no grip
• on the last strand of an unraveling rope
• watched the rescue party pass me by

Discussion: Different from “at the end of my tether” (see OED [a] above for distinction. Also sometimes thought to mean “I can’t take anymore.” I didn't address those here.

cliché: at the eleventh hour

Meaning: at the last possible moment (definition).

Example: They averted a strike reaching an agreement at the 11^th hour. (Examples.)

Origins: The Bible – the last hour of sunlight before darkness sets in at the 11^th hour. (Sources.)

Rewrites:

• a quarter to too late
• at the moment of last resort
• with time only to utter the final word
• with the clock showing just shy of “too late”
• between 1 and 0 in the final countdown

Discussion: I struggled to find a closer revision of the actual words “the 11^th hour” but it was a toughie. What ideas do you have?

cliché: at the crack of dawn

Meaning: When the light of day first appears (definition).

Example: The stars begin to disappear at the crack of dawn. (Examples.)

Origins: Old English, “crack” means “moment”, thus “moment of dawn.” (Sources.)

Rewrites:

• at the smack of dawn
• at break of day
• as light of day peeps
• as the sun wakens
• as night calls it a day

Discussion: This one was harder to rewrite than I thought it would be. What other metaphors have you created?

cliché: asleep at the wheel

Meaning: Inattentive or literally asleep while on duty (definition).

Example: He nearly missed his exit because he was “asleep at the wheel.”

Origins: 19^th century American railroading. (Origins.)

Rewrites:

• Dozing at the wheel
• Asleep at the keyboard
• Napping while knitting
• At rest in the guard tower
• Tuning the horn with some Z’s
• Monitoring the meter with half-open eyes
• Driving with another pair of eyes

Discussion: In this rewrite, I tried to come up with parallel idioms for the original, then I tried to recast it a little to approach the idea with similar metaphors.

cliché: as plain as the nose on your face

Meaning: Very obvious (definition).

Example: The sore on his lip was as plain as the nose on your face. (Source.)

Origins: Shakespeare’s The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Thomas Hardy’s Pair Blue Eyes, 1873. (Origins.)

Rewrites:

• as plain as the snout on a sow
• as obvious as the horn on a rhino
• as evident as a turret on a tank
• as patent as whiskers on a chin
• as sure as cute on a kitten

Discussion: Although the idiom is mostly about everyday obviousness, you might also read it to be about plainness and certainty.

cliché: apple of my eye, the

Meaning: The focus of my eye; someone or something cherished above others.

Example: Of all the young ladies at the dance, I couldn't take my eye off of her. She was the apple of my eye.

Origins: AD 885 from an Old English work attributed to King Aelfred the Great and The Bible: Deuteronomy 32:10 and Zechoriah 2:8. More lately by Shakespeare and Sir Walter Scott.

(Definition and origins.)

Rewrites:

• The red delicious of my eye
• The apple of my joy
• The fruit of my appreciation
• The joy of my focus

Discussion: In the first rewrite, use the species of apple of your choice, any would probably work, although the more notable the variety the better the metaphor works.

cliché: any port in a storm

Meaning: help accepted from any source (definition).

Example: Another night with the in-laws beats an overnight at the airport - any port in a storm! (Examples.)

Origins: Sea travel when any port, even those normally not sought out, would offer safety from storms or battles. (Source.)

Rewrites:

• any harbor in a gale
• any shelter in a blizzard
• any inside when the outside gets wild
• anywhere the weather can’t get to me

Discussion: Although I kept these rewrites to weather, there are plenty of opportunities to recast for other  situations when safety is sought. How might you rewrite for them? 

cliché: always a bridesmaid, never a bride

Meaning: Never the most important person in a group (source); never fulfill ambitions (source).

Origins: 1924 Listerine ad (source). 

Example: I finally make president of the firm and they bring in a CEO - as usual, always a bridesmaid, never a bride.

Rewrites:

• always a groomsman, never a groom
• always a stable pony, never a thoroughbred
• always an assistant, never a department head
• always a supporting actor,  never a leading role
• always a seat warmer, never a celeb
• always a caterpillar, never a butterfly
• always a raindrop, never a snowflake
• always a nominee, never one who accepts the statue
• always a rivet, never a Bedazzler

Discussion: This ad tagline is rife with opportunities for rewrites and recasts. I would love to see what you can come up with.