The Laboratorium : More Phrases I Dislike

I am not much of a fan of using sexualized language in nonsexual contexts. Phrases whose etymological origins are in the pornography industry strike me as particularly inappropriate for general usage. The metaphors are distractions at best; at worst they’re actively unpleasant or insulting. Thus, for example, I try not to use “money quote,” “screw the pooch,” “have them by the balls,” or similar phrases. Ever. Those phrases pretty reliably make me wince when I read them in otherwise-respectable prose; they yank me out of whatever focus the author had succeeded in in building up in me. I certainly like colorful metaphors and clever phrases, but not all imagery is equally appropriate.