TOP TEN IDIOMS THAT NEEDED TWEAKING BEFORE GOING MAINSTREAM

10)  The best thing since sliced bread.  Before 1928, when sliced bread was invented, people tended to go with the best thing since the mechanical reaper or gramophone or... since your mama stopped talkin' to me.

  9 )  Take a rain check.  For a short time, it was "take a meteor shower check" until everyone realized how insincere and random it sounded.

  8)  Like a fish out of water.  For centuries it was "like a kleptomaniac at a nudist colony" until people started jonesing for something a bit shorter.

  7)  Miss the boat.  It started with, "Damnit, I missed Noah's boat!" but died out quickly on account of the people all saying it drowned.

  6)  The ball is in your court.  For a long time, it was "ball is on your land" but then some guy invented the court.

  5)  Let the cat out of the bag.  "Originally, it was "Let whatever's in that bag the hell out of the bag!" until someone mentioned it was a cat.

  4)  Give someone a piece of your mind.  Up until then, people were more literal-minded, preferring to give a half of their sandwich, a leg up... a damn.  But this mind thing, yeah, that was heady stuff.

  3)  Make a long story short.  Initially, it was "taking forever to tell a tale about something that isn't worth all the time and effort" until... (see #8).

  2)  The best of both worlds.  Since people could remember it was "the best of this place" and then, out of nowhere, astronomy hit the scene.

And the top ten idiom that needed tweaking before going mainstream:

  1)  Rule of thumb.  It started out as "rule of the big toe", coined by a foot fetish society, until public outcry forced 'em to tone it down.