1. Working your fingers to the bone like this is enough to drive you crazy!

2.  Hyperbole: a much EXAGGERATED statement used for a dramatic effect or to emphasize a point. !! Use hyperbole sparingly because they can lose their dramatic effect if overused !!

3.  Here are some examples of hyperbole:  These shoes are killing me.  Shauna does everything for him.  Christmas will never come.  He walked down the road to nowhere.  My dad knows everything about cars.  Max is the fastest thing on two feet.  I can smell pizza from a mile a way.  I went home and made the biggest sandwich of all time.

4.  Idioms are, literally ideas as expressions.  They develop from older usage, where the words mean something other than their literal meaning. In some cases the meaning of the original expression has been lost, or is outdated.  idioms website idioms website

5. Dead Ringer: Exactly the same in every way, in terms of appearance. Can also be used to describe abstract situations. This case is a dead ringer for the Smith Jones fraud case, same methods, same spiel to the clients. Devil's Advocate: A person putting the negative position, whether they agree with it or not. This is usually done to ensure the negative aspects of a position are examined. I guess I'll have to be the devil's advocate here; what happens if this doesn't work, and we don't get that result? Don't count your chickens before they hatch The idiom means don't plan or take actions on the basis of things that haven't yet happened. Let's not count our chickens here, before we get confirmation. Don't Look A Gift Horse In The Mouth: This is an advisory idiom, derived from the old horse trading tradition of checking a horse's teeth to check the horse's age and health before buying the horse. The saying advises not getting too picky or critical about a gift of something either real or metaphorical, because it costs nothing. I don't think we should look this particular gift horse in the mouth too closely, because we don't have to take any risks ourselves.

6.  Personification: An object or idea is given human traits or characteristics.  Use personification to describe an object with human qualities so that your reader can imagine the human quality and associate that quality with the non-human object.

7. 1) As Shelia walked home from school, the wind gripped her in its frigid fingertips. 2) The engine hacked and coughed as Kevin turned the key, but the old car wouldn’t start. 3) Though it’s been said that “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend,” some girls prefer chocolate. 4) I looked at my phone like it might reach out and try to strangle me with guilt.

8.  Onomatopoeia: use of words that imitate the sounds associated with the object.  Use onomatopoeia to add description to your writing so your reader can hear the object the writer is describing.  Examples: buzzbeeptickhiss

9.  Basketball is the only thing that ever mattered to him.  Nothing can stop these guys.  My mom is going to kill me.  You’ve made me the happiest man alive, Rita.  The sight of them kissing is so gross that it makes me want to puke.  We’ll be best friends forever.  I will never say “never.”  The only thing that he ever wants to do is play that game.  John always knows the right thing to say.  Nothing could ever go wrong with his plan.  Pam was skinny enough to jump through a keyhole.  Jasmine never forgets anything.  Everyone knows that.  Go to the park? That’s the best idea ever.  I’d move mountains for her.

10.  Charlie gazed hopelessly at the endless pile of bills stretching across the counter.  That was the easiest question in the world.  Nothing can bother him.  I can smell pizza from a mile a way.  I went home and made the biggest sandwich of all time.  My dad is always working.  Patty drank from a bottomless glass of Kool-Aid.  Allie has a million pairs of shoes in her closet.  Old Mr. Johnson has been teaching here since the Stone Age.  Forget knocking it out of the park, Frank can knock a baseball off the continent.  The lesson was taking forever.  I’ve seen this movie at least 80,000 times.

11. Drive someone up the wall: Process of infuriating, irritating, or driving someone else mad. The idiom refers to the way someone behaves, or a situation which is affecting them like that. This particular client is driving me up the wall with all that extra paperwork. Down To The Wire: Till the last moment, or the final action. When used as an expression regarding something in progress, it means the matter is undecided, and the outcome is unpredictable. This football game is going to be down to the wire, scores are locked and it's anybody's game at this stage. Dropping Like Flies: Expression from humorous to exaggerated descriptor. Refers to fatalities, literally, but can be deliberate overstatement. They tried the salad dressing, and they're dropping like flies out there. Every Dog Has His Day: Even the lowliest of people will have a moment of glory. So George finally got that promotion! Every dog has his day. Every Cloud Has A Silver Lining: All bad things have an element of good in them. Every cloud does have a silver lining, I'll have to do without seeing that guy's face ever again.