Wednesday, 1 September 2010

Sayings in English - As Tired as a Worn Out Cliché

As a writer I am always interested in the English language, so one night when I was unable to get to sleep, instead of counting sheep (I see enough sheep down here on Romney Marsh as it is), I started counting cliches. Many date back to things my grandmother said a lot when I was a child, but many are in common usage today. This is by no means an exhaustive list; just ones I have heard a lot down here in Kent. I hasten to add that being a polite kind of a chap, some of the less tasteful ones are not necessarily phrases I would use myself and that I would not approve of anybody using innocent cliches for hateful or divisive purposes.

As bald as a badger
As bent as nine-bob note
As black as pitch
As black as the ace of spades
As black as coal
As black as night
As blind as a bat
As bold as brass
As bright as a button
As bright as the day
As brown as a berry
As busy as a bee
As cheap as chips
as clean as a whistle
As clear as a bell
As clear as the day
As clumsy as a bull in a china shop
As common as muck
As cool as a cucumber
As cold as ice
As daft as a brush
As daft as a coot
As dead as a door-nail
As dead as a dodo
As deaf as a post
As drunk as a skunk
As drunk as a newt
As drunk as a fart
As dry as a bone
As dry as toast
As dull as ditch-water
As easy as pi
As fat as a pig
As fat as an ox
As fit as a fiddle
As flat as a pancake
As free as a bird
As fresh as the daisies
As good as gold
As happy as a sand-boy
As happy as Larry
As happy as a pig in s***
As hard as nails
As heavy as lead
As high as a kite
As honest as the day is long
As hungry as a horse
As keen as mustard
As light as a feather
As long as a wet weekend
As loud as thunder
As mad as a hatter
As mad as a March hare
As mad as a box of frogs
As meek as a lamb to the slaughter
As merry as the month of May
As miserable as sin
As much use as a chocolate teapot/fire-guard
As nice as pie
As nutty as a fruit-bat
As old as the hills
As pleased as punch
As poor as a church mouse
As pretty as a picture
As pure as the driven snow
As quick as a flash
As quiet as a mouse
As red as a beetroot
As rich as a king
As right as rain
As safe as houses
As sick as a dog
As sick as a parrot
As slippery as an eel
As sly as a fox
As smooth as an eel
As snug as a bug in a rug
As sober as a judge
As soft as silk
As soft as s***
As solid as a rock
As sound as a pound
As sour as a lemon
As straight as a die
As stubborn as a mule
As strong as an ox
As subtle as a brick
As sure as eggs
As sweet as a nut
As sweet as honey
As thick as thieves
As thick as a brick
As thin as a rake
As tight as duck's a***
As tough as old boots
As warm as toast
As wet as a dish-cloth
As white as a sheet
As white as snow
As wise as an owl