Meaning: he isn’t as dangerous as he sounds. Mentions and use examples.
Rewrite 1: his bark has no teeth
Rewrite 2: he’s all bark and no bite
Rewrite 3: he barks a good game, but he’s toothless
Rewrite 4: she yowls better than she maulstv1

Comment: This one was fairly easy, and I was able to keep a lot of the “bite” of the original. Don’t be afraid to explore more synonyms for “bark” and “bite.”

More reading about clichés
What I found when I googled “clichés”:
• Tazlure Background Clichés: “There are some ideas for character backgrounds that have been done to death. These are the dreaded ‘background clichés’.”

Note: By providing links to other websites I am only showing you what is out there about clichés – I am not endorsing any content or opinion expressed there.

Check out the searchable alphabetical list of all my cliché rewrites available in the archive list at the right.