# Cliches In Real Life **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 17, 2013, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-in-real-life/669103 "2013-09-17T22:56:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-in-real-life/669103/1 "2013-09-17T22:56:17Z")
I did a mundane and pointless assessment today, and after 42 years on this planet I can say that I have, literally and without any intended irony: Slipped on a banana peel (they really are very slippery on a linoleum floor) Been up a river in a boat without a paddle (first time canoeing, I dropped it in the water) Asked for whom the bell tolled (passing a church having a wedding) Put all my eggs into one basket (at the supermarket, all the time) I have collected money from a Peter and paid a debt to a Paul, but it was not a robbery and separated by a few days so not even with the same money. But close! Anybody else? ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-in-real-life/669103/2 "2013-09-17T23:08:00Z")
I’ve heard from more than one source that the banana peel thing was a widely understood euphemism. The banana peel was a family friendly stand-in for a wad of horse shit, which would have been a common slipping hazard back in the days before cars. Don’t know if it’s true; can’t back it up; but I’ve heard it, and it makes sense to me. ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-in-real-life/669103/3 "2013-09-17T23:17:14Z")
I’ve had cake and eaten it, too. I’ve had ants in my pants (NOT a good morning). ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-in-real-life/669103/4 "2013-09-17T23:30:28Z")
I’ve been on my way to a wedding, only to discover upon arriving at the church that it had been cancelled, so I was literally all dressed up with nowhere to go. My neighbor told me about another friend of ours who was getting a divorce. At the time we were both working in our yards and he was telling me over my fence, which has Thompson seedless grapes on the trellis. Yes, I heard it through the grapevine. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-in-real-life/669103/5 "2013-09-17T23:41:05Z")
Having become a dog owner for the first time recently, I’ve had occasion to both keep someone on a short leash, and seen someone run away with her tail between her legs. Both are extremely apt turns of phrase. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-in-real-life/669103/6 "2013-09-17T23:53:21Z")
Playing with my wife one day I was “beating around the bush.” Eating some yummy fried chicken last night, I “bit off more than I could chew” and got grease all over my chin. Instead of renting a plot of land to grow a veggie garden, I “bought the farm.” I “dug up dirt” on a friend as we were excavating to pour a slab for his new back porch. He made me “eat dirt” when he threw some back at me. ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-in-real-life/669103/7 "2013-09-17T23:56:43Z")
When I was caught in bed with that chicken I really had egg on my face. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-in-real-life/669103/8 "2013-09-18T14:24:29Z")
I saw a chicken cross a road in Key West, FL. He wanted a bite of my Key Lime Pie. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-in-real-life/669103/9 "2013-09-18T14:32:31Z")
Things really are in the last place you’d look for them. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-in-real-life/669103/10 "2013-09-18T14:35:00Z")
My brother once called me from New Orleans as he had just gotten a beignet from Cafe Du Monde and was stepping onto a streetcar. ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-in-real-life/669103/11 "2013-09-18T19:15:18Z")
For the past 8 years, my right gluteus medius muscle has been going crazy, constantly being tight and irritated, causing me no end of pain and suffering. Yes, it has been a pain in my ass. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-in-real-life/669103/12 "2013-09-18T19:26:04Z")
I made a mountain out of a molehill once. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-in-real-life/669103/13 "2013-09-18T20:54:37Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > My brother once called me from New Orleans as he had just gotten a beignet from Cafe Du Monde and was stepping onto a streetcar. I don’t get this one. ---
**Author:** ![AnthonyElite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b487fb/32.png) [@AnthonyElite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnthonyElite)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-in-real-life/669103/14 "2013-09-18T21:34:44Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > I’ve been on my way to a wedding, only to discover upon arriving at the church that it had been cancelled, so I was literally all dressed up with nowhere to go. You should have gone to a party where no-one was still alive. A dead man’s party. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-in-real-life/669103/15 "2013-09-18T21:36:00Z")
I have also used a sledgehammer to crack a nut, and have nailed jelly to a tree. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-in-real-life/669103/16 "2013-09-18T21:36:38Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > My brother once called me from New Orleans as he had just gotten a beignet from Cafe Du Monde and was stepping onto a streetcar. > [@cochrane](#): > > I don’t get this one. Those are food and modes of transportation that are cliches from New Orleans. One or the other wouldn’t be worth mentioning but the combination is what made me post it. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-in-real-life/669103/17 "2013-09-19T07:59:46Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Those are food and modes of transportation that are cliches from New Orleans. One or the other wouldn’t be worth mentioning but the combination is what made me post it. It whooshed me. I don’t associate streetcars particularly with New Orleans, as they’re everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-in-real-life/669103/18 "2013-09-19T08:03:30Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > It whooshed me. I don’t associate streetcars particularly with New Orleans, as they’re everywhere. [A Streetcar Named Desire](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Streetcar_Named_Desire_%28play%29) ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-in-real-life/669103/19 "2013-09-19T16:42:30Z")
I know someone who once played second fiddle (in an orchestra). I have been literally on the fence. Can be dangerous. I have danced to someone else’s tune on a dance floor. I have carried a weight that was used as a standard measuring weight for balance scales. I have friends in high places, if that means knowing a few pilots. I have drawn a line in the sand. I have worn the shoe if it fits. I have done things at the 11th hour, being asked why I haven’t gone home yet, it’s 11 pm. I have not had a chance to literally bury a hatchet. I tried to get lost in Old San Juan, but couldn’t - it was too small. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-in-real-life/669103/20 "2013-11-05T03:55:04Z")
As I put away a new for 2013 Halloween prop, I realized that not only do I truly have toys in the attic (mostly Lego), I now have a skeleton in the closet as well. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliches-in-real-life/669103.md?page=2)