Cliches

Thought For The Day

Cliches. I could explain them to you, but then I'd have to kill you.

How we complain and denigrate the lowly, overused expression. How we love to elevate our lofty intellect above the crowded market place of commoners who languish in drab, familiar, citations of mediocrity. Why can't we come up with some new, interesting, intelligent expressions that lift the spirit and heighten our awareness.

"How can I soar like an eagle when I'm surrounded by a bunch of turkeys."

Theses overused expressions have a life of their own, primarily because the are pretty well conceived to begin with, but quite often we use them without having the foggiest idea what they mean or where they came from.

"Colder than the balls on a brass monkey." Many a crass lad has used this expression believing that he is being risque while completely misunderstanding the meaning of the phrase. They are picturing a brass statue of a monkey but a monkey in this particular case is a base upon which cannon ball are placed so they will not roll about on the deck of a ship. The "monkey" held the pyramid of cannon balls by the cannons. Not what you thought, eh?

"One day at a time."

That's a good one for me, every day. I can worry about things before it's their turn and end up lost in a maze of "what ifs".

I'm a pretty lucky guy, all things considered, as a matter of fact, I'm a very lucky guy and you are too.

©Herb Ratliff, June 22, 2012, All Rights Reserved