Idiom’s Delight

One of the joys I get from writing is using figurative language, whether it’s idioms, smilies, metaphors, alliteration, and personification.  Here is a very good article on how to use idioms.  Coming from West Virginia, I am used to people inventing idioms to suit different occasions.

One time when I was feeling sorry for myself, my sister remarked that I was “dancing around the ol’ bitter barn.”  I have no idea how she came up with it, but ever since, it’s been a joke in my family when anyone sounds bitter or self-pitying.  Another sister invented different ways to say “whatever floats your boat,” such as “whatever cranks your case” and “whatever skins your skunk.  I would love to use “whatever skins your skunk” in a story.  I haven’t found an appropriate place yet.  To describe someone who isn’t smart, my dad would say that he or she “couldn’t lead a two-car funeral”, meaning a funeral procession.

If a writer uses an unusual or original figure of speech, it draws me into their writing.  I will have some examples for my post on Tuesday.