Commomplace

See Also: FAMILIARITY

1. As corny as Kansas in August … as normal as blueberry pie —Oscar Hammerstein II, from lyric for South Pacific.

   Another famous simile from the same score: “High as a flag on the Fourth of July.”

2. As daily as bread —Thomas Lux
3. Common as adultery, and hardly less reprehensible —Lord Altringham

   Societal changes have seeded “Common as divorce” and “Common as sex” before marriage.

4. Common as bag ladies on city streets —Anon
5. (Angels were as) common as birds or butterflies —Donald Justice
6. Common as dentists who molest female patients —Loren D. Estleman
7. Common as dirt —American colloquialism attributed to New England

   A popular variation: “Common as mud.”

8. Common as frozen dinners —Anon

   Another up-and-coming one from our fast food age: “Common as microwave dinners.”

9. Common as get out —William Hazlitt This has become known and used as “Common as all get-out.”
10. Common as graduation parties in June —Anon
11. Common as hot spells in July and snowflakes in winter —Elyse Sommer
12. Common as pig’s tracks —H. W. Thompson

    American folklore has simplified this to “Common as dirt.”

13. Common … as potatoes —Hugh Walpole
14. Common as the highway —John Ray’s Proverbs
15. Common as the New York cockroach —Erik Sandberg-Diment, writing about the increased use and availability of personal computer clones of the original IBM model, New York Times, December 12, 1986

    New Yorkers might well argue that they have no exclusiveness when it comes to cockroaches.

16. (Charles’s conversation was) commonplace as a street pavement —Gustave Flaubert
17. Commomplace as birth —Anon
18. Commonplace as slumber —Phyllis McGinley
19. Ordinary as walking a straight line —Lee K. Abbott
20. Taken for granted like a nose bob —Alistair Cooke, New York Times interview, referring to the television teleprompter, January 1, 1985
21. Traditional as a seven-layer wedding cake —Jonathan Valin