Here’s Another Easy Way to Save Words in Your WIP

The informal expressions we rely on in everyday speech include easy-to-remember phrases we grew up with. However, they often contain unnecessary words or phrasing that, when analyzed, wouldn’t make sense to a foreign-language student.

cliché: an overused word or phrase that betrays a lack of original thought; a platitude or truism

idiom: a phrase in common usage that doesn’t literally mean what the words convey; a figure of speech

Replace Those Clichés and Idioms

You could save hundreds, perhaps thousands, of words in a long novel by focusing on these trite figures of speech.

Although dialogue should seem realistic, you can shorten it as well. For example, on the up and up could be changed to legit, which is informal for legitimate. Five words become one.

The list below contains clichés and idioms, with suggested one-word replacements. Among them you’ll find a liberal scattering of colloquial words that would be appropriate for dialogue.

100+ Clichés and Idioms

1 to 21

an ace in the hole: advantage, backup, edge, fallback, leg-up, reserve, scheme, shtick, spare, standby, stash

acting as though one got up on the wrong side of the bed: cranky, crotchety, grouchy, grumpy, irritable, peppery, prickly, tetchy

all fingers and thumbs: awkward, bumbling, bungling, cloddish, clumsy, inept, klutzy, uncoordinated, unhandy

armed to the teeth: armored, equipped, fortified, packing, prepared, primed, ready, set, weaponized

as alike as two peas in a pod: identical, indistinguishable, interchangeable, identical, matching, twinnies

as brave as a lion: audacious, bold, courageous, dauntless, daring, gutsy, plucky, spunky, valorous

as busy as a bee: diligent, hardworking, hustling, industrious, occupied, overworked, swamped

as cool as a cucumber: calm, collected, imperturbable, laidback, sedate, serene, unruffled

as far as the eye can see: boundless, endless, far-flung, infinite, interminable, limitless, perpetual, yonder

as fit as a fiddle: bushy-tailed, flourishing, healthy, robust, sound, strong, thriving, vigorous

as flat as [a flounder, a pancake]: compressed, deflated, even, planar, smooth, smushed, uniform

as flat as stale beer: bland, boring, dreary, dull, fusty, ho-hum, humdrum, lackluster, mildewed, spoiled

as good as gold (1): acquiescent, dutiful, meek, obedient, polite, respectful, tame, well-behaved, well-mannered

as good as gold (2): brilliant, excellent, exceptional, first-rate, outstanding, rad, radical

as happy as a clam: delighted, ecstatic, elated, euphoric, overjoyed, thrilled, tickled, turned-on

as honest as the day is long: above-board, faultless, irreproachable, trustworthy, unimpeachable

as mad as a March hare: absurd, batty, brainless, dotty, irrational, loopy, nutty, wacky

as old as the hills: ancient, antique, archaic, creaky, fossilized, grizzled, hoary

as snug as a bug in a rug: comfortable, comfy, cozy, cushy, intimate, safe, sheltered, snug, toasty

as ugly as sin: freakish, grotesque, gruesome, hideous, monstrous, repulsive, revolting

as useful as a lead balloon: bootless, hopeless, impractical, pathetic, unworkable, useless, worthless

22 to 43

as weak as a kitten: feeble, fragile, frail, unstable, shaky, wacked, wasted, wobbly

asleep at the wheel: daydreaming, distracted, dozy, inattentive, negligent, oblivious, woolgathering

at the speed of light: fast, breakneck, briskly, hastily, rapidly, quickly, speedily, swiftly

a bad egg: blackguard, louse, lowlife, miscreant, scoundrel, troublemaker, villain, wretch

banging one’s head against a brick wall: foiled, frustrated, snookered, stonewalled, stymied, thwarted

barking up the wrong tree: confused, discombobulated, faked-out, misguided, misled, mistaken

bent out of shape: annoyed, boiling, displeased, irate, peeved, riled, steamed, upset

a bolt from the blue: calamity, disaster, letdown, meltdown, setback, tragedy, waterloo

by the skin of one’s teeth: almost, barely, closely, just, marginally, narrowly, nearly, scarcely

caught between a rock and a hard place: dithering, shillyshallying, teetering, torn, vacillating

chomping at the bit: agog, antsy, eager, excited, impatient, keen, raring, testy, zealous

cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey: freezing, glacial, nippy, numbing, raw, subzero

costing an arm and a leg: costly, dear, exorbitant, expensive, inflated, pricey, steep

a diamond in the rough: crude, uncultured, unpolished, unrefined, unsophisticated

dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s: finicky, meticulous, painstaking, persnickety, scrupulous

dumber than a sack of potatoes: dense, dim-witted, dopey, thick, unintelligent

easier said than done: ambitious, challenging, demanding, knotty, tricky, troublesome

every Tom, Dick, and Harry: everybody, everyone

everything but the kitchen sink: hodgepodge, miscellany, mishmash, muddle, potpourri, salmagundi

faster than [greased lightning, a rocket, a speeding bullet]: flat-out, hypersonic, immediate, instantaneous, swift

a fate worse than death: calamity, cataclysm, disaster, torture, tragedy, wreck

a feather in one’s cap: accomplishment, achievement, coup, smash-hit, success, triumph

44 to 69

a fly in the ointment: Catch-22, drag, drawback, handicap, hitch, snag, obstacle

footloose and fancy-free: eligible, independent, single, unattached, unengaged, unfettered

full of piss and vinegar: animated, breezy, energetic, enthusiastic, frenetic, zippy

grist for the mill: advantageous, beneficial, helpful, supportive, useful

gut-wrenching pain: agony, hell, misery, suffering, torment, torture

hard to swallow: harebrained, implausible, improbable, outrageous, preposterous, unbelievable

head over heels in love: beguiled, bowled over, captivated, enamored, infatuated, love-struck, smitten

heart-stopping fear: abdabs, collywobbles, dread, horror, hysteria, panic, shock, terror

hot enough to fry an egg: baking, red-hot, scorching, sizzling, sweltering, ultrahot

in a jiffy: ASAP, directly, immediately, instantly, momentarily, promptly, pronto, soon, STAT

in for a penny, in for a pound: committed, determined, dogged, resolute, single-minded, unwavering

in one fell swoop: abruptly, instantaneously, instantly, pronto, simultaneously, together

in the limelight: acclaimed, celebrated, eminent, legendary, lionized, prominent, renowned

joined at the hip: attached, close, devoted, inseparable, intimate, palsy-walsy

knee-high to a grasshopper: diminutive, itty-bitty, mini, petite, pint-sized, short, stunted, teeny, weeny

a knight in shining armor: champion, conqueror, hero, idol, lifesaver

the life of the party: cutup, extrovert, quipster, show-off, wisecracker

like a babe in the woods: green, gullible, innocent, jejune, naïve, trusting, unsophisticated

like a bull in a china shop: blundering, cloddish, clumsy, gawky, lumbering, maladroit, ponderous, ungainly

like a dish fit for the gods: ambrosial, delectable, delicious, divine, exquisite, mouthwatering, scrumptious, yummy

like a fish out of water: antsy, awkward, fidgety, peculiar, uncomfortable, uneasy, weird

like a fool’s paradise: bogus, counterfeit, deceptive, fake, misleading, unreal

like a foregone conclusion: cast-iron, certain, failsafe, guaranteed, reliable, undeniable, watertight

like a half-baked idea: birdbrained, daft, impractical, softheaded, unfeasible, unrealistic, unworkable

like a riddle wrapped up in an enigma: cryptic, enigmatic, fuzzy, incomprehensible, indecipherable, muddy, obscure

like oil and water: alien, different, disparate, dissimilar, incompatible, mismatched, unalike

70 to 91

mad enough to chew nails and spit tacks: berserk, enraged, fuming, furious, incensed, livid, rabid, wild

on the mend: convalescent, healing, mellow, mending, recuperating, recovering

on the up and up (1): aboveboard, genuine, honest, kosher, legal, legit, legitimate

on the up and up (2): ambitious, aspiring, ballsy, improving, prosperous, rising, successful

a piece of cake: easy, easy-peasy, effortless, idiot-proof, no-brainer, painless, simple, straightforward

a port in the storm: armor, asylum, bolthole, haven, protection, refuge, sanctuary, security, shelter

a rule of thumb: convention, generalization, guideline, pattern, policy, yardstick

scared out of one’s wits: frozen, horrified, numb, panicked, petrified, spooked, terrified

sitting on the edge of one’s seat: anxious, excited, impatient, itching, jumpy, nervous, skittish

a stone’s throw away: accessible, close, convenient, handy, near, nearby, nigh

thinking outside the box: avant-garde, imaginative, innovative, inventive, left-field, original, radical, resourceful, unconventional

a thorn in the flesh: aggravation, annoyance, irritation, menace, nuisance, pest

to air dirty laundry: backstab, blab, defame, disparage, gossip, slander, snitch, tattle

to bat an idea around: brainstorm, conceptualize, cogitate, deliberate, free-associate, muse, ruminate

to beat the living daylights out of: clobber, drub, hammer, pummel, thrash, trounce, whip

to blow one’s own horn: bluster, boast, brag, crow, gloat, grandstand, strut, swagger

to get one’s feet wet: attack, attempt, begin, commence, tackle, try, undertake, venture

to get/start the ball rolling: activate, begin, initiate, instigate, launch, propel, spearhead, start, trigger, unveil

to give someone the cold shoulder: blackball, blacklist, disregard, dodge, flout, ignore, rebuff, reject, snub, spurn

to grin from ear to ear: beam, dimple, fleer, glow, mock, radiate, shine, smirk, twinkle

to gum up the works: clog, cripple, hamper, handicap, hinder, hog-tie, jam, obstruct, restrict, stifle, strangle, stymie

to haul someone over the coals: admonish, castigate, chide, earbash, harangue, lambaste, rebuke, reprimand, scold, upbraid

92 to 108

to hold one’s breath: await, bide, delay, dawdle, dither, hesitate, pause, stall, stonewall, sweat, wait

to jump down someone’s throat: accuse, bad-mouth, blame, censure, criticize, denounce, denunciate, knock, malign, upbraid, vilify

to lead down the garden path: deceive, dupe, misinform, mislead

to let sleeping dogs lie: abstain, avoid, decline, disregard, forget, forgo, forgive, ignore, refrain, withdraw

to read between the lines: analyze, crack, decipher, decode, deduce, explore, extrapolate, gauge, interpret, probe, speculate, untangle

to speak with forked tongue: bluff, BS, deceive, delude, dupe, fabricate, fib, hoodwink, lie, mislead, misrepresent, pretend

to spill the beans: blab, blurt, broadcast, confess, disclose, divulge, leak, rat, reveal, sing, snitch, spill, squawk, tell

to talk through one’s hat: adorn, babble, bluster, embellish, exaggerate, fudge, massage, overstate, overdo, pontificate, ramble

a waste of time: bootless, frivolous, futile, hollow, hopeless, ineffective, pointless, sleeveless, useless, vain

with a face only a mother could love: foul, freakish, grisly, homely, loathsome, monstrous, nasty, slimy, ugly, unattractive, yucky

with a place for everything and everything in its place: neat, orderly, organized, prepared, shipshape, structured, tidy

with a stiff upper lip: collected, coolheaded, composed, confident, imperturbable, laid-back, unfazed, unflappable, unruffled

with nerves of steel: calm, cocky, composed, cool, fearless, self-controlled, steady, together, tranquil, unperturbed, unruffled

with one’s nose to the grindstone: conscientious, diligent, driven, hardworking, indefatigable, industrious, keen, tenacious, tireless

without a care in the world: animated, blissful, blithe, carefree, chipper, chirpy, ecstatic, happy, jaunty, merry, sunny

wolf in sheep’s clothing: bilker, charlatan, fake, fraud, hustler, imposter, phony, pretender, quack, sham

you can take it to the bank: absobloodylutely, absolutely, certainly, definitely, definitesolutely, indeed, obviously, roger, totally

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