• ripped to shreds
• butterflies in my stomach
• flat as a pancake
• cold as ice
• like a chicken with its head cut off
• live off the fat of the land
• quick as lightening
• dumb blond
• quick as a flash
• rain or shine
• fog as thick as pea soup
• keep your fingers crossed
• cool as a cucumber
• blow your own horn
• silent as the grave
• pull out all the stops
• good as gold
• born with a silver spoon in his mouth
• happy as a clam
• read the riot act
• rooted to the spot
• pretty as a picture
• a barrel of monkeys
• solid as the rock of Gibraltar
• as hard to find as a needle in a haystack
• unvarnished truth
• hard as nails
• rain cats and dogs
• meek as a lamb
• rise and shine
• smart as a whip
• a force to be reckoned with
• claw to the top
• don't count your chickens before they're hatched
• tumble to the bottom
• any port in a storm
• head over heels
• a fish out of water
• green as grass
• more power to you
• white as a ghost
• up the river without a paddle
• black as night
• handwriting on the wall
• like a bull in a China shop
• whisper sweet nothings
• tame a wild beast
• in times of trouble
• movers and shakers
• does my heart good
• It's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all

Keep in mind that clichés are merely substitutes for original thinking. You will be most tempted to used these tired expressions  when you're in a rush, but they will always sound stale and will usually be confusing and inaccurate. It's easy to write something like:

When I went to Guatemala the first time, I felt like a fish out of water. Without a firm grip on the language, I was up the river without a paddle.

The image is a stock attempt to communicate a feeling of being out of place, but it does that only for people who are numb to the visual power of language. Whenever you edit and revise your writing and you come across clichés, strike them out and develop more accurate, more vivid detail. Your writing will come to life.