MIxed Up Metaphors
The best of MIXED UP METAPHORS:
(Illustrations to help those teaching English)
By Richard Laterriere from his book "Anguished English"
I wouldn't be caught dead in that movie with a ten-foot pole.
The sacred cows have come home to roost with a vengeance.
Milwaukee is the golden egg that the rest of the state wants to milk.
She'll get it by hook or ladder.
The bankers' pockets are bulging with the sweat of the honest working man.
That's a very hard blow to swallow.
The slowdown is accelerating.
That snake in the grass is barking up the wrong tree.
When we get to that bridge, we'll jump.
Don't sit there like a sore thumb.
Everyone whose ox has been gored is going to be squealing.
It's time to swallow the bullet.
It's time to grab the bull by the tail and look it in the eye.
The budget deficit is an albatross we carry on our back.
The sword of Damocles is hanging over Pandora's Box.
It's as easy as falling off a piece of cake.
Originally published November 14, 2002.
