Meaning: direction to conform or be out of step with the cool people (definition).


Example: Dude, everybody who’s anybody will be at the party – be there or be square!
Origins: Its roots evolved over the last couple of centuries, but the cliché takes root in 1940s-50s with jazz as a reference to the square as something that followed an established order turned into one that was confined by that order and not “with it” or “cool.” (Source 1. Source 2.)


Rewrites: be there or be contraire be there or lose your cool be there or be drool be there or be outta here be there or never be here be one of us or never be one of us come along to get along

Discussion: There is a lot of room to work with here for a rewrite. There is the rhyme, coolness, conformity, inclusion – this cliché is rich with opportunity for rework.